Originally Posted by PJ24

United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand.

FDPA

Thanks, PJ, my question was really directed @ the Milforum Gnat.

Thanks tomtom22!

The five countries are all in the Commonwealth.

A very strong and respected military. The British military is very similar to the Aussies in a lot of ways (which is why I like you guys), but have the benifit of a much larger population to support the military. In Australia we have no choice but to focus on quality, not quantity. The Brits seem to do both (quanitity by comparison to Australia) very well.

As for nations that'll fight alongside the UK always, I put it like this. There are only 3 that I belive will always jump in. Australia, UK and the USA. That's it. The others have in the past not proved so loyal/quick off the mark as these three.

Originally Posted by AussieNick

As for nations that'll fight alongside the UK always, I put it like this. There are only 3 that I belive will always jump in. Australia, UK and the USA. That's it. The others have in the past not proved so loyal/quick off the mark as these three.

Very true.

I did an exchange tour with the Royal Air Force in a past life. An extraordinarily capable organization that does amazing things leveraging technology to make up for small numbers.
But the small numbers are telling. With the collapse of the Warsaw PAct, the Brits have no natural enemies and support for a robust military has wained.

And the Brits carry some very heavy post-colonial baggage that complicates thier involvement in any coalition activities. Remember, Brit fingerprints are all over the Middle East and not ususally in a good way.

But, all that being said, if I went to war, there is no service I'd rather partner with than the Brits. And they through some hellacious mess dinners.

I wouldn't say the Brits are the best in the world, not after WWII. Well, like any army in the world, they have their weakness too.

Originally Posted by zander_0633

I wouldn't say the Brits are the best in the world, not after WWII. Well, like any army in the world, they have their weakness too.

Care to back up your presumptous claims?

Look at their records in the Afghan war, Iraq war, WWII.
You'll know wad I am talking about.

Originally Posted by zander_0633

Look at their records in the Afghan war, Iraq war, WWII.
You'll know wad I am talking about.

World War II (1939–1945)
Anglo-Iraqi War (1941)
Greek Civil War (1941–1949)
Cold War (1945–1991)
Malayan Emergency (1948–1960)
Korean War (1950–1953)
Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960)
Cyprus Emergency (1955–1959)
Suez Crisis (1956)
Brunei Uprising (1962)
Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation (1962–1966)
Aden Emergency (1963–1967)
Northern Ireland Troubles (1969-mid 1990s)
Cod War Confrontation (1975–1976)
Falklands War (1982)
The First Gulf War (1990–1991)
The Bosnian War (1995–1996)
The Kosovo War (1999)
Sierra Leone Civil War (2000)

• The Afghanistan War (2001–Present)
• Iraq War and Iraqi insurgency (2003–Present

I have looked at the records (I think you should also)and I have no idea what you're talking about.

I wouldn't say the Brits are the best in the world either. But they are one of the best.