The new commander of the British Armed Forces, General Patrick Sanders, canceled the sending of a parachute battalion to BiH and Kosovo after a video was released in public showing paratroopers participating in orgies at a military base.
According to the Independent, the officer of the parachute unit, General Andrew Harrison, stated in a letter to Sanders that he had “temporarily lost confidence” in the unit of the Third Parachute Battalion.
“This battalion has an extraordinary reputation, it is in the service of the British people and each of the members is disappointed with the loss of the chance to be on mission in the Balkans again,” Harrison said in the letter.
He added that General Sanders’ decision was based on recent disciplinary incidents at the “Merville” barracks, from which the recordings later became public.
A video released earlier this month shows a woman having sex with eight members of the 16th Assault Air Brigade at Merville Barracks in Colchester, Essex, while several other soldiers watched and some cheered. According to the Royal Military Police, the woman was a civilian who was allegedly smuggled into the base about 30 times in the past five months.
Sanders said that the activity could be interpreted as “humiliation of women” and called it “unacceptable, corrosive and harmful to the reputation of the army”.
“I know that the battalion will respond quickly and restore the reputation that they deserve,” he added.
About 300 members of the parachute unit were to be deployed in the Balkans in September.
Photo: illustration
