RAF Brize Norton chief's views on patriotism revealed
On Thursday night, a group of Palestine Action protestors managed to enter RAF Brize Norton, spraying paint into a pair of Voyager jet engines and leaving the military base without being caught. The Prime Minister has since called it 'vandalism' and there has been talk of proscribing Palestine Action.
But Mr S wants to know how they managed to get onto the base in the first place. The protesters videoed themselves on scooters, zooming about the runway, seemingly without a single soldier noticing them. It's a major embarrassment, not just for the military but for the country – especially at a time of heightened global tensions. If some keffiyeh-wearing hippies can scoot into our military bases undetected, what of trained foreign operatives hoping to do real damage?
The person in charge of Brize Norton is one Group Captain Louise Henton OBE, who has spent her time in the RAF working in personnel and administration – what we'd call HR on civvy street. Mr S did a bit of digging into her professional history and found that while studying at an Advanced Command and Staff Course in 2019, she wrote an essay for Air and Space Power Review, entitled 'Military Culture and Human Rights Violations Committed in Iraq in 2003. Has the Military Learnt its Lessons?' The essay makes for fascinating reading. In it she tells us:
Personality traits such as patriotism and bravery are viewed as desirable within the military. This often encourages overt masculine behaviour amongst its members, therefore stepping outside the norm and challenging the group is often looked down upon and difficult to do. The task-focused approach can also lead to corners being cut if it is deemed that the ends justify the means, that certain actions or behaviours are tolerated if they achieve the desired result. The danger with this is that such undesirable behaviours, if tolerated for long enough, become the norm and the level of standards gradually erodes… Methods of bonding and creating team cohesiveness within the military often involve pranks and banter, but this isolates those who are different to the norm.
Goodness me. Patriotism and masculinity are undesirable? Pranks and banter create a negative military culture? Far be it for Mr S to play armchair general, but perhaps Group Captain Henton ought to spend a little more of her time focusing on the basics, such as securing her base's perimeter…
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