The army recruits at GMEX Manchester
armygirl | 15.12.2004 18:17
Last week the army had a recruitment stall inside the skills fair at GMEX which ran form the 8th to 11th December, 2004.
They offered schoolkids and other suitable army fodder a go in the Small Arms Trainer, "a laser simulator which the army uses to train all soldiers in marksmanship. It comprises a modified version of the SA80 rifle, a computer and a video screen. It is a valuable tool in training soldiers as it is able to show faults in shooting technique enabling you to fire at moving targets".
Some people from Manchester decided to turn up and spoil the fun. On day one a simple attempt to leaflet outside meant that the police were called, although one spoilsport did get in and asked some pertitent questions at the army stall. As the week wore on, more and more coachloads of schoolkids were bused in to admire the lovely display of impressive guns outside the building. Sadly, not all the soldiers were so enthusiastic about the army and some came up to those pesky leafleters and said they wanted to get out of the army. Its a good thing the army was working so hard to recruit if thats the attitude. Imagine not wanting to die, be maimed for life or suffer from the effects of depleted uranium. Its in the job description. Isn't it?
On the Saturday, after some conferring, the army worked out that children don't attend school and so couldn't be bussed in by careers teachers, so packed up its big guns early. We decided to pop inside (because it was a free show open to the public) to share information with people about Deepcut and the experiences of soldiers in Iraq. Unfortunately, security got us and we were escorted into the road, the only place anywhere near GMEX you are allowed to stand. Sweetly, the security guard was worried about our health and safety. Pity he wasn't more worried about the health and safety of the young kids that had been flooding into GMEX all week.
We heard afterwards that people from Wrexham also came up later to make sure the army were completely factual in their employment contracts, and that they went inside.
Nice one Wrexham :)
They offered schoolkids and other suitable army fodder a go in the Small Arms Trainer, "a laser simulator which the army uses to train all soldiers in marksmanship. It comprises a modified version of the SA80 rifle, a computer and a video screen. It is a valuable tool in training soldiers as it is able to show faults in shooting technique enabling you to fire at moving targets".
Some people from Manchester decided to turn up and spoil the fun. On day one a simple attempt to leaflet outside meant that the police were called, although one spoilsport did get in and asked some pertitent questions at the army stall. As the week wore on, more and more coachloads of schoolkids were bused in to admire the lovely display of impressive guns outside the building. Sadly, not all the soldiers were so enthusiastic about the army and some came up to those pesky leafleters and said they wanted to get out of the army. Its a good thing the army was working so hard to recruit if thats the attitude. Imagine not wanting to die, be maimed for life or suffer from the effects of depleted uranium. Its in the job description. Isn't it?
On the Saturday, after some conferring, the army worked out that children don't attend school and so couldn't be bussed in by careers teachers, so packed up its big guns early. We decided to pop inside (because it was a free show open to the public) to share information with people about Deepcut and the experiences of soldiers in Iraq. Unfortunately, security got us and we were escorted into the road, the only place anywhere near GMEX you are allowed to stand. Sweetly, the security guard was worried about our health and safety. Pity he wasn't more worried about the health and safety of the young kids that had been flooding into GMEX all week.
We heard afterwards that people from Wrexham also came up later to make sure the army were completely factual in their employment contracts, and that they went inside.
Nice one Wrexham :)
armygirl
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A Person from Wrexham writes...
16.12.2004 11:02
If there had been more of us we could have given the goons a real run-around, they weren't very organised and it took ages for their back-up to arrive.
Had an interesting discussion with the cops outside about their TETRA radios. It seems they are largely unaware of the health risks associated with this kit, and encouraged us to write to the local Police Federation with more info.
We (Wrexham Peace and Justice Forum) have made a leaflet to hand out at Army recruitment events, in schools etc, giving 10 reasons NOT to join up and other quotes and facts. We're very happy to spread it around, so if you would like a copy to adapt for your local use, please email us at the addy given
Peace
WPJF
e-mail:
wrexhamsaw@yahoo.com
Homepage:
http://www.wpjf.org.uk