UKC

Wow.....what were AFC Harrogate thi king of 

Get BG's latest buddying with a well know sex pest (at best)

Give the number if rapes and assaults at the Hartogate college in recent years....it's not a good look for the Army

https://www.army.mod.uk/news-and-events/news/2024/07/bear-grylls-joins-forc...

“Colonel Bear”. I bet the DS will have another name for him.

I get the ribbing that BG receives on here, an actual climbing site, but surely he's just a harmless pillock and nothing more. Ie naive.

No, He's a T*ss*r

No, he's a grifter, his shows are a charade, staged. Everyone knows it, he doesn't even follow best practice, pretends to live wild then shifts to a hotel. It's a terrible look, plus the military doesn't need honorary colonels, there's more than they need in the first place. 

Yeah, the word 'grifter' came to my mind when I read this earlier. Bear Grifter; moved from one 'figurehead' role to another.

There's nothing naive in his make-believe.

Maybe things have changed since I left but what will inspire youngsters are real people, it's probably not her thing but people like Jasmin Paris, they don't need honorary titles etc.. just go for a day, run with them, then later do a talk on their development. The world is full of inspiring people, who walk the walk every day. 

Khris Akabusi does a lot this kind of stuff, whilst i found him annoying on tv, his life story is incredible. 

Agree…I did a bit of stuff with the cadets in the past and what’s needed is exactly what you say….real stuff not shallow image orientated nonsense. We had lads who’d lost limbs and worse talking to the cadets, some of them being badly injured whilst saving others but have done amazingly well in things like disabled sport etc….people who have seriously grafted not internet based celebrities!

Fair enough (and I happen to agree), I just don't get the vitriol, surely he's an inconsequential irrelevance? 

The military do use the Honorary Colonel title reasonably often, especially when bringing in outside civilian assistance and advice. Giving them a high rank gives them more of a voice in a rank based system. 

The military do need various Colonel of the regiment to support those regiments (especially as the last few governments  have shown dwindling interest). But wiser choices would be good!

Yes, but they aren't working with, there's no situation where grills needs to have authority over a major, or captain, or non commissioned ranked. With things like out sourced services, like JPA contracts, or other stuff EDS and ATLAS have, senior staff will be told they have an equivalent rank. This isn't for any kind of power, only so if a senior military officer rings up, they understand they are speaking to someone who can make decisions at the other end. Project managers, business lead, programme managers etc would mean little to them. 

Giving him a rank and uniform is a PR stunt, potentially not wise, given the fact he's best buddies with Russell Brand, another grifter. 

The military is awash with senior staff, many who haven't left HQs for a decade plus, every redundancy phase has seen the junior ranks cut far more, but the number mid to upper posts barely changes. Even further up it's staggering how many 1-3 star posts there are. It's not surprising when you see many pictures in the press of 40 plus year old seniors with no telic or herrick medals, where were they hiding!? 

Not defending that, maybe I've misunderstood but I thought "Colonel of the Regiment" was an unpaid ceremonial title for someone as opposed to a "real" Colonel

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/british-army-ranks

"...When is a colonel not a colonel? The rank of colonel should not be confused with the colonel of a regiment. The latter role is usually performed by a retired general officer who has responsibility for the protection of a regiment’s interests. This dates back to the 17th century, when colonels owned and equipped their regiments..."

I think Bear Grylls was recently appointed the equivalent to that, as honorary Colonel for the Army Foundation College Harrogate. Point taken though, that if the senior officers got off their arses more often and did their job, they'd have no need for others to defend their interests.

It is ceremonial, but why do they even need him. My only guess is that the CO of the AFC is an old Eton School chum. 

Not sure it fits age-wise.

BG is 50.

Training establishments need young buck COs.

Even if pal was 13 when BG was 18 at Eton, that makes the CO 45 at youngest.