The Wardman Wire

The government is not keeping up its side of the bargain

Last night I watched a programme called Jack: a Soldier’s Story. It was on BBC3 and I suspect it was a repeat – but it was the first time I had seen it. It was about a chap called Lance Corporal Jack Mizon and his tour of duty in Afghanistan and his subsequent struggles on returning to everyday life back in the UK. It was a very thought provoking piece of television that left me feeling that the UK military is keeping its side of the bargain up while the government is letting them down.

“I expected it to be bad, but this last two weeks has been really bad.”

L/Cpl Jack Mizon is from Tottenham. He came across as down to earth a human being you could wish to meet but had been thrust in the most unimaginable extraordinary circumstances. Let’s make no bones about it: L/Cpl Jack Mizon was in Afghanistan primarily to kill the Taliban. The Seven Sisters road to Helmand province is a long way even for the highly trained men of the Grenadier Guards. It seemed that all too quickly this dawned on L/Cpl Mizon who at first seemed to almost enjoy the buzz of war but after only two weeks declared that he wanted to go home saying “I expected it to be bad, but this last two weeks has been really bad.”

Jack lost a close friend and had another two serious injured in those two weeks. He had been attacked by a suicide bomber and was under constant attack. By the time he got some leave, Jack had faced over 80 days without any rest or recuperation. The strain was seriously showing but he was left to just get on with it. Yet throughout, this North London boy was calm and incredibly articulate. He was neither showed arrogance in his military superiority nor fear that he was fighting people who “believe that when they die they’re going to wake up with 27 virgins”. He was doing a job. An extraordinary job. Something us civilians can think we understand but in reality will never be able to fully empathise with.

Do not blame the squaddies, It is the politicians who make the decisions

Now, whether you support the war in Afghanistan or strongly oppose it, the decision to go was made by politicians not those fighting on the ground. These people signed up to do a job that protects the UK – you may think fighting in the specific arena of Afghanistan is not protecting the UK, but soldiers do not choose where they fight. A programme that had many poignant moments had one in particular. Jack said that Afghanistan is not worth dying for. He didn’t want to die in Afghanistan or lose limbs there as it was simply not worth it. But it’s his job and he gets paid to do it. Well, it’s about time our politicians stopped taking these men and women for granted.

Over worked, under paid and over there

As Jack pointed out, the army is supposed to get 18 months between tours; Jack had done four tours, including Iraq and Afghanistan in just five years. He was working with men on the frontline that were being paid just £19k. We have all seen the pitiful compensation and support our injured soldiers get. The very fact Jack faced over 80 days without any R&R is quite amazing. You wouldn’t expect a shelf stacker in Tescos or a chief executive in a FTSE firm to work that much, why on earth would the government expect men with guns who have to dodge bullets to work like that?

Adjusting

The real twist in the story occurred when Jack returned to the UK however. Jack went AWOL. He did return to his barracks and received a commendation for his extraordinary work in Afghanistan and also a punishment for going AWOL on the same day. As his close friend said “You’ve gone from having all the responsibility in the world over there, people’s lives depend on it, and then you come back and you’re just a name and number again. It’s hard to get your head round it.” Especially if you are just left on your own or with inadequate support to help you get your head round it.

Then jack got involved in two fights – one with rivals from another regiment. As one of his seniors said though “We train these men to never back down from any confrontation, no matter what the odds.” This is behaviour ingrained on our soldiers yet it seems there is no counter balance offered when they come home. He fled to Canada to avoid arrest. He did return pretty soon and turned himself in. He was told to expect 18 months in gaol. He took it on the chin but was clearly not happy about having to spend his life with burglars and petty criminals… despite the fact that he was now just one of them in the eyes of the law. In the end he was sentenced to community service.

You could not help but feel that none of this would had happened had Jack been treated properly by his employers. There is no doubt that he was not a bad person. He was not a petty crook. He was just a lad that had been through hell and let down by the government.

The government message is clear:

This government is sending out some clear messages at the moment: Fighting terrorism is our nation’s number one priority, yet the people doing the dirty work are bottom of our list. The reality is clear: join the army and you can kiss goodbye to a normal life; a relationship with you family and kids will be virtually impossible as you are sent away for too long and far too often. When you return you are no longer a hero saving lives but a threat to civilians and to yourself. You will not receive adequate support for any of these issues. And God help you if you are severely injured because quite frankly, you are merely a burden on the already astronomical defence budget.

In short: do not sign up because this government does not give a damn about you. It is about time they did.

I strongly recommend you watch the show on iplayer if you have not seen it already, here. It should be up for a week.

Also, visit Help for Heroes - because if the government aren’t going to do anything about it, at least we should.