http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/ The #1 News Videos Site on the Planet. http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Argotic Syndication Framework 2008.0.2.0, http://www.codeplex.com/Argotic Fri, 18 May 2012 12:29:07 GMT 2 RIFLES have been presented with their Op Herrick 15 campaign medals by their Royal Colonel His Royal Highness the Duke of Wessex at Ballykinler in Northern Ireland. The troops returned in April. During their time in Afghanistan two companies took up a ground holding role along side 5 RIFLES while the remainder formed the Brigade Advisory Group mentoring the Afghan security forces. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=4m6ZURUG8lk Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The repatriations of two servicemen killed by what appeared to be Afghan police officers in Afghanistan took place today. Corporal Brent McCarthy, of the Royal Air Force Police, and Lance Corporal Lee Davies of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards were killed on Saturday. After a private ceremony at RAF Brize Norton their cortege passed the Memorial Garden at Carterton. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=sXOlMuNEr74 Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' was a hit song for The Proclaimers in the 80s, but for one RAF veteran, it has been the inspiration behind a fundraising challenge. Former RAF Regiment Gunner Sean Allerton is paralysed, but he has decided to cover 500 miles in his wheelchair for charity. He set off this week at RAF Church Fenton in Yorkshire cheered on by the singers themselves. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=sD0JNGm-vzY Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT In Cyprus, more than 300 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment have been presented with long service, operational and Queens Diamond Jubilee medals, at Happy Valley, Episkopi. As well as present day operations, they also remembered past conflicts and those who made the ultimate sacrifice. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=oBd63Q3HDA8 Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Staff at RAF Halton have been rehearsing for a Diamond Jubilee Parade at Windsor Castle to take place on Saturday in front of the Queen. Volunteers from RAF bases across the country put their skills and drills to the test on the parade square. Nearly 2500 staff from across the forces will take part in the parade and muster, which will also feature a tri-service flypast of some 80 aircraft old and new. Meanwhile, personnel from the Royal Navy are also preparing for the one-off event. Hundreds of Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel have been put through their paces. Representatives from across the Senior Service attended the drill training at Longmoor camp near Bordon, Hampshire. The route will start at Windsor Great Walk with nearly 2500 members of the armed forces marching through the town centre before arriving at the castle to muster in front of the Queen and Prince Philip. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=jkVlt4-tyhI Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Using water as a medium for the rehabilitation of soldiers injured on operations is a new concept for the British but American troops have been reaping the benefits of Deptherapy since 2007. In the last of three special reports from Florida Forces News takes a look at the work of the US Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Programme and the US equivalent of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and Headley Court. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=f-jLJu58wiI Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The oldest TA unit, and the only remaining militia unit in the British Army has been training in Germany. The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Militia are in Sennelager as part of their annual two week camp and have been getting to grips with bridge building, driver training and demolitions. For the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Militia visiting Germany is a chance to get back to basics with their key soldiering skills, including learning about the differences when driving military vehicles on rough terrain. These combat engineers constantly have personnel in Afghanistan and so brushing up on their bridge building is key. The exercise is supported by a troop from the Welsh Transport Regiment but these sappers also have a squadron in Jersey and for those soldiers it is a great chance to escape from island life. As the Army makes changes over the next few years it is likely that the role of soldiers like these will become more crucial. Fuses and detonators are set up before they retreat to a safe place to hear their work in action. These soldiers will go back to the day jobs next week but with a new set of skills they hope to soon use on operations. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=djgvdlThTiQ Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The charity motorcycle ride, The Dambusters 2012 is in full swing across Europe. Two motorbike enthusiasts, Simon Dufton and Victor Chevens set off early yesterday morning to re-trace the steps of the Dambusters Raid of 16th/17th May 1943. It is probably the most famous bombing raid made by the RAF in WW2. Their aim was to stop and reflect at the Möhnesee Dam which is where Laura Hawkins was able to halt their motorbikes and catch up with them. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=dG3Z4mnrJcM Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards have been crowned Army Sevens Champions. The Fallingbostel based side won the title in Aldershot yesterday. 16 teams entered this year's Championship but as the tournament progressed just four sides remained hoping to book their place in the final. The first semi final saw the Army fifteen a side champions 17 Port and Maritime regiment take on a determined outfit from 2 Royal Welsh and the Welshmen took an early lead. 17 Port and Maritime hit back through a Burenivalu try. He had too much gas for the defence. Teammate Kini soon followed cutting a dash to the line and putting the Dolphins in command at the break. The elongated frame of Ryan Moore gave 2 Royal Welsh hope in the second half as he galloped under the posts. But Burenivalu scooted home for the crucial try and 17 Port and Maritime were in the final. The second semi final was straight forward as German champions The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards cantered past 39 Engineer Regiment thanks in part to the pace of Army star winger Rokoduguni. He scored two tries in the 21 points to 7 win. So to the final and in their changed strip the Scots Dragoon Guards looked focussed on adding the Army crown to their BAG title. And so it proved as they raced into an early lead. Komaiyasa swerved his way through the Dolphins defence. The Fallingbostel based side were just too good for their opponents on the day as they outscored 17 Port and Maritime 4 tries to 1 to secure a well deserved victory. The Cup ... http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=S2XL3y7nhY4 Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT John McArthur is an invaluable man around camp. He is a REME vehicle mechanic who is attached to the troop of Royal Engineers based there. If it has got wheels or tracks, the VM will have a look at it -- there is not much he cannot sort out. But with no mechanic's pit, no ramp to put vehicles on and no shade for John or all that hot metal, the conditions are challenging. The Vehicle Mechanic's skills can be called for outside of base, at times. Time is of the essence to get wheels rolling again without becoming a target. For that reason, the VM gets a bit of special treatment from grateful guys at Patrol Base Wahid. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=N_7baE_NPCs Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Former Bosnian Serb military Commander Ratko Mladic has gone on trial at a UN tribunal on 11 charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ailing 70-year-old's appearance at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal marks the end of a long wait for justice for survivors of the 1992-95 war that left 100000 people dead. Mladic gave a thumbs-up and clapped to supporters in the public gallery of the court at The Hague, Holland, as the trial got under way 20 years after the opening shots of the Bosnian War. Munira Subasic, who lost 22 family members in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, was among a group of relatives of war dead heading into the courtroom to face Mladic. The 65-year-old said she wanted to look him in the eye "and ask him if he will repent for what he did". The trial is a landmark for the UN court and international justice - Mladic is the last suspect from the Bosnian War to go on trial there. Mladic, wearing a suit and tie, occasionally wrote notes and showed no emotion as prosecutors began outlining his alleged crimes. Presiding Judge Alphons Orie said at the outset that the court was considering postponing the presentation of evidence, due to start May 29, due to "errors" by prosecutors in disclosing evidence to the defence. Prosecutor Dermot Groome said he would not oppose a "reasonable adjournment". Mr Groome opened his statement by focusing on the plight of a 14-year-old boy whose father and uncle were among 150 men murdered by Bosnian Serb forces in ... http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=9YNZuJIe6Vs Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT *Some viewers might find the details in this report distressing* British troops are being banned from transferring suspected Taliban prisoners over to the Afghan authorities because of claims of torture by local forces. The ban on handing captives to the National Directorate of Security (NDS) could throw the transfer of security to Afghan forces -- a key component of Britain's exit strategy - into disarray. British forces must release detainees after 96 hours, although they can extend it to 30 days with ministerial approval. Allegations that the NDS operated an underground interrogation chamber near the British headquarters in Lashkar Gah and that "torture was entrenched" in the organisation were put before the High Court yesterday. Mr Justice Collins gave leave for two cases to seek a judicial review into the transfer of prisoners as well as the involvement of the NDS in British interrogations. He was also made aware of the ban on prisoner transfers. He said: "If our troops are attacked by the Taliban insurgents and there is the capture of some rather than being killed, then after 96 hours they have to go free. That is a somewhat worrying situation to say the least." But he said an equally serious issue was that the UK could not be seen to be complicit in torture or mistreatment. One of the cases brought before the court is that of Serdar Mohamed -- a farmer -- who says he was abused after being arrested by the British following a firefight and held for three months. He ... http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=0JZy7HIFazA Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Avoiding an Army marching on an empty stomach is the job of chefs like Private Chris David at Patrol Base Wahid - a British and Estonian base on the edge of green zone in Afghanistan. He and other chefs have to conjure up three meals a day for around 140 hungry troops against a backdrop of almost unbearable heat. To see how they do it Forces News has spent the day feeling the heat of the kitchen and seeing what can be done with two kerosene ovens, a couple of gas rings and some culinary ingenuity. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=IetfUoxoQQ4 Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Army Sevens Championships are taking place in Aldershot. The sport has long been a firm Forces favourite. The games are fast and furious and produce plenty of excitement. It is a sport that is going places. Not only is it an established event in the Commonwealth Games, but in four years time in Rio, Rugby Sevens will make its debut at the Olympics. The military have a fine tradition of producing servicemen who play the highest level. Army star Isoa Damudamu has been part of the England set up for a number of years. The highlight of the army sevens season will be the International Defence Forces Rugby Sevens World Cup due to take place in America later this year. Closer to home and this year's Army Sevens Championship is wide open with 16 teams battling it out for honours including the BAG Champions, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and last year's winners 17 Port and Maritime Regiment. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=_8lCxMaBS2w Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT After 42 years in print, the British Forces Germany newspaper Sixth Sense has now launched it's own independent website. Although it had a smaller website in the past, it was attached to the MOD's BFG Net which did not give them the flexibility and control that they wanted. The newspaper is self-funded which in the current environment can be challenging, but they are passionate about keeping the newspaper going for the troops and families of BFG. They plan to put archive articles on the website as well as galleries and extra photographs of events that their reporters cover. www.sixth-sense-newspaper.de http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=LmYtoLaIoQs Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Injured British soldiers who have been spending time underwater as part of their rehabilitation have described the incredible experience of moving from a pool to the wonders of the open sea. They are in Florida as part of Deptherapy - a pioneering treatment developed five years ago by a disabled British diver. It helps troops who have suffered life-changing injuries on operations and, for the second of a series of special reports, Forces News caught up with them on a dive boat at Florida Keys. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=JYGDQRpqB30 Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The daring special forces mission to go deep into enemy territory in Iraq during the second Gulf war has been told for the first time by one of the men in command on the ground. Captain David Blakeley led eight men, on a task to seize an airfield ahead of a much larger deployment but it turned into a fight for their lives when alone and unsupported they had to evade two thousand enemy forces. David Blakeley has been talking to British Forces News about his new book Pathfinder. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=GWMhuFchBXE Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT RAF musicians are to play a newly written trumpet fanfare to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. It has been tailor-made for St Paul's Cathedral and the musicians all performed at the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding. They will play the new piece of music during a thanksgiving service which will formally commemorate the Queen's 60-year reign. The composer - Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs - said the 50-second tune entitled Jubilate has been written to make use of the cathedral's prominent nine-second echo as shaped the work. The senior officer is the RAF's principal director of music and wrote the fanfare Valiant and Brave for William and Kate's wedding ceremony last year. He said: "To be honest, to do this is fantastic, I'm delighted. "A fanfare is just basically a glorified hello - I don't want to diminish it - but the main factor for this one is that St Paul's Cathedral has got a reverberation time, an echo, of nearly nine seconds. "So anything written specifically for it needs to have a little bit of space. So what I've tried to do, hopefully successfully - we'll see, is add a bit of space in there so the music can be allowed to ring through the cathedral. "There's an aspect of a peal of bells in there as well, and also because of the echo we've actually mimicked that within the fanfare." The musicians from the RAF's Central Band fanfare team will perform the piece at St Paul's Cathedral on June 5 in front of the Royal Family and a host of dignitaries. Corporal ... http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=2CbyDfXVgFY Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT The Gibraltar Field Gun crew have been preparing for the annual Field Gun competition by pulling their Gun and Limber from Devils Tower Camp, through the town and on to the Naval Base. The team of 5 Royal Navy, 7 RAF and 6 Army personnel, including three from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, are training for the annual Brickwoods Field Gun Competition to be held on 26 May in Portsmouth. After setting off from Devils Tower Camp, the crew headed to Casemates Square where they were joined by the Corps of Drums from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment. Together they marched up a packed Main Street lined with shoppers and families. 'The atmosphere was incredible,' said SAC John Thomson, a member of the crew. 'The positive reception we got from members of the public was overwhelming. It feels now like we are representing Gibraltar as well as the military.' Just past the Convent, the Band of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment replaced the Corps of Drums, leading the crew onwards to Ragged Staff Road. By the time the procession turned into the gates of the Naval Base, it had gathered a large number of followers. The crew then completed two timed runs, cheered on by the crowd. Despite fears over injuries obtained in training, the fastest run was a respectable one minute and 30 seconds. Leading Physical Trainer 'Scouse' Carley said, 'There is a lot we can still improve on, but with 2 weeks of training still left before the main competition, we are more than happy.' Also pleased with how the event ... http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=qnSmapzbQT4 Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT Servicemen who have suffered life changing injuries in Afghanistan are benefiting from a pioneering form of aquatic rehabilitation in Florida called Deptherapy. Based on the principles of diving those involved believe the water based therapy can help both the body and the mind. In the first of three special reports British Forces News joined six British soldiers and US Marines poolside. Deptherapy was developed by Frazer Bathgate a pioneer of disabled diving. He was paralysed in a climbing accident and believes that diving freed him from the depression that affected him afterwards. Initially the programme was limited to US Veterans but after Fraser met George Cross recipient and Royal Marine, Matt Croucher, the programme was extended to include injured British soldiers. http://www.fatcatnewsvideo.com/VideoDetail.aspx?pv=yt&assetId=kcmVln40T9w Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT