Uniforms
Ewan Watt asks me what I think about military uniforms being worn in public by service personnel and, more particularly, the instruction to troops of a RAF station commander not to wear uniform in town. Remarkably, this issue has affected me; at school, we weren’t allowed to wear CCF uniforms in the minibus if we were going somewhere as part of the activities. That was, of course, because of the troubles in Ireland.
The military is used by some people as part of the definition of the common rhetoric of a nation - what Michael Billig called ‘banal nationalism’ - and so when people feel that the military is being wrongfully used, they are likely to react against what they perceive as an usurpation of their nationhood or perversion of their national sentiment. The genesis of the problem is as much in the promotion of the military as a shared symbol by those who give particular criticism or focus to the problem in question.
I would venture that not all members of the armed forces would be such shrinking violets as to be offended by a few catcalls. Garrison towns are known for being a little rough at the edges and the descent of a shipful of matelots can lead to cries of ‘lock up your daughters’. As there can be tensions between town and gown, there can be between city and beret.
Unfortunately, it is not just the armed forces that have problems because of their uniforms. It goes almost without saying that the police do while firefighters are increasingly being targeted, with fake calls being made to draw them into an ambush. Medical staff are also subject to abuse on a fairly regular basis, while traffic wardens,dustpeople, bus drivers and people on the Tube and trains are also often abused. None of the abuse of these people arises the same contention. This, I think, is the heart of the matter: the bizarre centrality to public life that the military seek and some others wish them to have. Are the military praiseworthy? No more, I think, than the police or the ambulance service. There is no particular difference here; attacking someone because they work for the military, the police or any of the other jobs I mentioned above is equally worthy of condemnation.
Ultimately, I agree with Ewan; it is best left to the armed forces and best left to inidividual base commanders to decide how to best manage relations with their locality. As to the wearing of uniforms while not on duty, which is occasionally suggested, one wonders why the same would not apply to the police et al.
xD.
March 8th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
That’s a fascinating post, Dave. Reminded me a little of when I was in Northern Ireland and I have military friends who did stints there.