The UK’s head of the Army canceled a NATO deployment for hundreds of British paratroopers who are being punished over videos showing troops engaging in an orgy with a civilian woman at a military barracks.
Eight paratroopers with the UK’s 16 Air Assault Brigade were investigated by the Royal Military Police due to videos showing them having sex with a civilian woman, the New York Post reported Sunday. The troops had snuck the woman into Merville barracks in Colchester, Essex over 30 times over the past five months.
According to The Times, General Sir Patrick Sanders, the UK’s new head of the Army, told generals and commanding officers in a letter that the troops were banned from a NATO deployment to the Balkans because he would not “risk the mission or the reputation of the British army.”
While the police cleared the troops of any criminal misconduct, Sanders said the incident did not align with the army’s values and could be seen a denigrating to women.
“My message to the army is clear – our license to operate is founded on trust and confidence and we must hold ourselves to the highest standards,” Sanders wrote, adding that “such behavior is unacceptable, corrosive and detrimental to the army’s reputation.”
“I am not prepared to risk the Nato mission or the reputation of the British army by deploying 3 Para at this time,” he continued.
Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison, the colonel commandant of the Parachute Regiment, explained that Sanders had “temporarily lost trust” in the troops.
“This afternoon the Chief of the General Staff (CGS), General Sir Patrick Sanders, took the decision to remove 3 Para off the roster to deploy to Kosovo this summer,” Harrison wrote in a letter, according to PA Media. “3 Para has an extraordinary operational reputation in the service of our nation, and every member of it will be devastated by the lost opportunity to serve on operations once again in the Balkans.”
“CGS’s decision was based on recent disciplinary incidents on Exercise Swift Response, and in Merville Barracks, the latter which has been in the public domain over the last few weeks,” he continued. “3 Para accept they have temporarily lost the trust of CGS.”
“They will reflect on and where required adjust behaviours and culture that undermines the reputation and operational effectiveness of an exceptional Battalion,” Harrison added.
