Trump Enrages Afghan Vets

I’ve got to keep this brief today because I’ve bogged it on timings - admin all over the shop. I’ll be better.

Trump has had quite the week - first he was going to destroy NATO to take Greenland, then he threatened allies with tariffs if they wouldn’t agree with him, and now he’s not going to do any of those things.

One thing he did say on NATO was: “They'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan... and they did — they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” This is the second time the Trump administration has made light of international commitments in Afghanistan, after Defence Secretary Hegseth joked about allies in Afghanistan in June.

The Challenger 3 upgrade of the Challenger 2 has crossed a major milestone with the successful completion of crewed live firing. The Germans (Rheinmetall) are helping to build this one, so we haven’t had any of the nonsense seen with AJAX (you can read the latest shambles on that here).

Talking of kit upgrades, £453m is being invested in the Typhoon programme to extend its service life well into the 2040s.

Oh the SBS must be raging. They’re literally called the Special Boat Service…but being given the ally job still isn’t quite within their grasp. This time it was French commandos who the British helped catch a shadow tanker, after helping the US a few weeks ago.

Your time will come lads. Probably.

Big events from the past, covered in brief and probably inaccurately.

On 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died, ending a reign of 63 years (the UK’s second longest-serving after Queen Elizabeth). Such was her impact that most of the 19th Century globally is referred to as the Victorian era. This was a time where Britain expand into the world’s largest empire, dominated industry and shaped a global order built around British influence.

Victoria’s death marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new chapter in British history - one defined by the unraveling of imperial dominance.

Changing things up? This is where we briefly look at career options from across the civvy world - everything goes here so expect some absolute drivel. Sometimes Forces Assist can help place you, sometimes we can’t. Either way we can offer advice.

Get up there. Scaffolding isn’t all that bad. Outdoors. Solid pay. Free phys.

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Over at Forces Assist in the next few weeks we’re going to be publishing our annual Veteran Employers Guide. Get all your mates to sign up for Despatches and we’ll a) be grateful b) get the guide out to you and them.

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Cheers,

Team Forces Assist