Falklands : WELCOME BACK GLEN: BFBS INTERVIEW WITH CBFSAI
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 10.01.2012 (Article Archived on 24.01.2012)
FINN welcomes back Glen Mansell (GM), who left the Falklands last year for medical reasons. In one of Glen’s first 2012 interviews during his popular morning show on BFBS Mr Mansell spoke with Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands Bill Aldridge (BA) about his first six months in the Falklands and his look forward to a very event-filled year to come.
WELCOME BACK GLEN:
BFBS INTERVIEW WITH CBFSAI
An Interview for BFBS Radio (Falklands) by Glen Mansell 09 January 2012
Intro by J. Brock (FINN)
FINN welcomes back Glen Mansell (GM), who left the Falklands last year for medical reasons. In one of Glen’s first 2012 interviews during his popular morning show on BFBS Mr Mansell spoke with Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands Bill Aldridge (BA) about his first six months in the Falklands and his look forward to a very event-filled year to come.
Firstly Mr Mansell asked if it has been a good year thus far in Bill Aldridge’s South Atlantic Command.
BA: Yes. I think it’s been an excellent year for BFSAI. As you are aware, I have only been here for six months of it but if I look back over what BFSAI has achieved in 2011 – Project Shackleton – the resurfacing of the runway; that was delivered on time without any major hitch to operations or indeed sustain them. People worked brilliantly through that. I arrived in the middle of the volcanic ash disruption and witnessed first-hand the superb work that people were doing to maintain Com activities and sustainability here and getting people home. Those are the sort of routine challenges that people here seem to deal with extremely well.
GM: You mentioned Operation Shackleton; that, of course, is the runway resurfacing which took place. MPA in places is starting to show its age a little. Does that cause you any concern?
BA: You don’t have to be a mathematician to work out the sums. It was built a quarter of a century ago with a life-time – some of it – not necessarily a quarter of a century long, so it is showing its age. We put in an awful lot of work and continue to do so to make sure that the chain of command understands the state of the infrastructure here so that when those difficult financial decisions are being made in the UK that they know how critical this place is to UK interests and why we need the investment that we do. So I am worried to a level but I am also pretty confident that we are getting the argument across.
GM: That’s the past. Looking forward into 2012, what aspirations have you got for next year?
BA: To keep everything pretty much on the straight and narrow and as the last C J O (Commander Joint Operations) would say, keep it steady. That is going to be a challenge here and I don’t think we should shy away from that. There’s a lot scheduled to happen in 2012. Prince William is scheduled to come and do a tour of duty here. We’ve got the whole 2012 commemorations – the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with Royalty coming here. And then, of course, everyone’s going to be looking at the Olympics and focusing elsewhere. And there is a job of work to be done here but I am very confident that we will deliver that – just as it needs to be delivered.
GM: This command must enjoy the warmest relations of them all with the local community. That must please you.
BA: Yes. It makes my job so much easier. As I say to the arrivals every Tuesday, we’ve got a Military garrison here and uniquely the locals want us to be here working where the doors are always open. The people open their doors to you, they welcome you and this makes life so much easier. And it is also a privilege. The Falkland Islanders also know why we are here, they want us here and it is also a privilege to operate in those circumstances and to know that one is doing a job for them as well as for ourselves.
GM: With the British Military focus quite rightly on Afghanistan, do you think there is a danger that you are feeling that you are a forgotten army?
BA: I don’t think we feel as a forgotten army – of course as a Joint Officer I would say just we are the Army. But we are the Royal Navy, the Air Force and the Civil Service as well. Of course, apart from the contractual support – yes – quite obviously there has been a huge focus and should continue to be so on Afghanistan. It is the major operation the UK is committed to but, hey, the UK is committed to the Falklands in this manner for very nearly 30 years. And one thing I know for certain is that when Afghanistan is over, we will still be committed here. So I don’t think anyone’s going to forget us just yet.
GM: For those serving with you both here in the Falklands and, of course on Ascension Island, is there a thought you would like to share for 2012?
BA: I suppose it is really boring of me but what I ask people to do when I brief them in the arrivals interview – in the arrivals process and that is just to do their job but to do it professionally and to take pride in it. If we do that then we deliver our mission and we keep things just as they are meant to be here. That’s safe.
(100X Transcription Service)
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