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1RAM/1301066 Jan 13File

PERSONAL NOTE – MAJ R A MCLEOD R SIGNALS LLB MA JP

1.

Background

.

"...Over the last 18 months I have become increasingly alarmed at the Army’sconduct in areas to which, hitherto, I have had little exposure – or, where I had been exposed, it was from a position of power. As well as my brother’s case, I have become aware of a number of other bullying, victimisation and harassment cases, at least one of which culminated in the suicideof the victim. The issues these revealed went far wider than my brother’s case. Accordingly, I havebeen pursuing a twin-track approach: fighting to the best of my limited ability, and within my role ashis Assisting Officer, to secure fair treatment for my brother, and documenting forensically hisexperience so as to be able, in due course, to highlight the systemic and institutional issues whichhis case and others have raised..."

(Source: Letter to Andrew Smith MP dated 4 Oct 12).2.

Context

. The Army has a dishonourable history of decades of misleading ministers downmoral and legal black holes, from the sacking of pregnant service women to the exclusion of homosexuals, and failed attempts to retain unlawful courts martial systems. The executive, of which the MOD is a part, and the Army a yet smaller part, is held to account by the legislature andthe judiciary. It is entirely proper that those of us who are in a position to articulate potentialproblems do so; to do otherwise is an abdication of the responsibilities vested in us both ascommissioned officers, and – more simply – as decent human beings.3.

Power without accountability

. Because the Service Justice System – and indeed thewider military – is so opaque to outsiders, there is virtually no external oversight. Very occasionally,cases enter the public consciousness, but because of the lack of transparency and understanding,these are rare, and are perceived to be exceptions. The Army’s regular strength will soon be amere 82,000 – such a small group (0.13% of the population), dispersed across constituencies inthe UK, and with a culture of deference to power, is unlikely to speak out. The stratified nature of the military also means that the least educated, confident and eloquent are those at greatest risk of being unfairly treated, and their junior position renders them unable effectively to seek help,particularly when their problems arise from failings inherent in the Service Justice System. I amacutely conscious that in the British Army in 21

st

century, as with Thucydides in the 5

th

century:

...you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question betweenequals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.

1

4.

Law

. I informed Army HQ on 22 Aug 12 before submitting evidence to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee on 24 Sep 12. Senior officers raised no objection. I passedthat evidence to MPs, lawyers, and family, communications with whom are protected byparliamentary privilege, legal professional privilege, and Article 8 ECHR, respectively. I invitedrecipients to follow their consciences. I understand that a number of MPs felt obliged to pass theinformation to the press. In a democracy, that is – and remains – their right. I will continue todocument forensically anything said or done to me or my brother to MPs, with the same invitationto follow their consciences. I caution Army HQ to temper their actions accordingly.5.

Effects

. Army HQ may not appreciate exposure, but they must play the ball not the man.If they have done nothing wrong, they have nothing to fear. This will not assuage their fears. I havedocumented,

inter alia,

a number of bullying, victimisation and harassment cases, an assault, aconspiracy to pervert the course of justice, and five sexual assaults and rapes. The report hastriggered the reopening of two RMP(SIB) investigations.

1

Thucydides (460–395 BC),

History of the Peloponnesian War,

Sixteenth Year of the War, The MelianConference, the fate of Melos: The Melian Dialogue. From: Robert Strassler and Victor Hanson,

TheLandmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War,

Free Press (2008), p352.

26.

Family

. My brother's career has been destroyed, and his treatment overshadowed our father's multiple amputations and death. Army HQ's behaviour – or rather, and more accurately,the behaviour of individual senior officers who will in due course be held publicly accountable –has been atrocious and inexcusable: and documented in forensic detail. There is nothing more the Army can do to my family than they have not done already.7.

Future

.a.

Internal

. Any interviews will be recorded and any orders regarding this matter will onlybe accepted in writing, with the originating officer's name, rank, and position detailed in full,along with a full description of both the orders and the legal authority for them. Thoserecordings and orders will be passed to MPs, with an invitation to follow their consciences.b.

External

. We are instructing solicitors, and I am confident that we have a strong case.We have also received support from MPs, and members of the House of Lords including a QC.c.

Self-protection

. I urge personnel involved in this case to insist – for their own protection – that any advice they receive, or orders they are given, are documented and retained by boththe MOD

and those individuals personally

, for both accountability and evidentiary purposes.8.

Integrity

. At the end of staff college we were exhorted by the Director of the Army Division,the Joint Services Command and Staff College, to do three things:(1) Remember that

“At the end of staff officers’ pens are soldiers’ lives”

– i.e. remember our obligations towards the soldiers over whom parliament has granted us near-total power.(2) Articulate robust, logical, evidence-based arguments.(3) Speak truth to power.9. I have honoured his direction. If the MOD is discomfited, they should look to themselvesand the quality of their actions, not to officers who expose those actions.

Ross McLeod

R A McLeodMaj Annex: A. Advice from the ages.

A-1

Annex A toRAM/130106Dated 6 Jan 13ADVICE FROM THE AGES

Why do holders of high office so often act contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests? Why does intelligent mental process seem so often not to function?

…

Wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a factor that plays a remarkably large role ingovernment. It consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions whileignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting in accordance with wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts. It is epitomised in a historian’s statement about Phillip II of Spain, the surpassing woodenhead of all sovereigns: “No experience of the failure of his policy could shake his belief in its essential excellence”.

Barbara Tuchman (1985).

The march of folly: from Troy to Vietnam.

New York: Ballantine. pp4 & 7.Description: ‘From the distinguished American historian, a remarkable study that penetrates one of the most bizarre and fascinating paradoxes in history: the persistent pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests. A work of profound and poignant relevance today.’

The nation that insists on drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and thethinking man is liable to have its fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards.

Sir William Francis Butler (1838-1910)

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he standsat times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King, Jr (1929-1968)

The important thing is never to stop questioning.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Juvenal (Roman poet) - literally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves?"

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003), four-term US senator, ambassador, and academic.

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

Edmund Burke, May 1770. Burke (1729-1797) took a leading role in the debate over theconstitutional limits to the executive authority of the King. He argued strongly against unrestrainedroyal power and for the role of political parties in maintaining a principled opposition capable of preventing abuses, either by the monarch or by specific factions within the government.

When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun,save a little money. That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover onesimple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it

…

Once you learn that, you'll never be thesame again.

Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.

James Arthur Baldwin (1924-1987), American essayist, playwright and novelist.

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

Mark Twain (1835-1910)