JEA said;

"Why and how have you worked with all these units, I would (and have, once) considered myself lucky to work with the SAS, let alone a forigner having done so."

More years than I care to remember all over Germany, Berlin included!
Exotic countries.
LRRP joint "games with SAS", even in their hometown...

"According to Pte England "everyone knew about it [, the abuse], from the company commander down". If you would like to talk about the British abuse pohoto's that have emerged, I wouild be happy to give my reasons for believing them to be fake."

Whatever....but I remember a specific British E&E joint exercise were the bag over the head, the nakedness, uncomfortable position and nasty comments over anatomy parts by female participants were SOP!

Originally Posted by JEA

I am attached to the REME, I'm not prepared to go in to further detail as "the powers that be" will dissagree with me posting on this site.

JEA, sell the "secret squirrel" BS on another site .. it won't fly here.

Why and how have you worked with all these units, I would (and have, once) considered myself lucky to work with the SAS, let alone a forigner having done so.

If you've had any real experience at all with the SAS then you know foreign military SOF members often work with them. US SOF and UK SOF as well as other countries work short exchanges with members often.

Originally Posted by RnderSafe

If you've had any real experience at all with the SAS then you know foreign military SOF members often work with them. US SOF and UK SOF as well as other countries work short exchanges with members often.

absolutely
i also worked with german SOF and SAS.....
My unit hunted them in the forests

Hell they got the SAS my dad was in it, they gotta be good then.

lol
i didnt say we got them....

we wounded two.....
but we had some losses.....
they are really good....

Originally Posted by JEA

better training and equipment

I'd say you have MORE equipment. Most of our (army's) equipment is on a par with yours with a few new aquirements of ours being slightly better, and a couple of older pieces of kit being slightly (bordering on much) worse.

As for the training remark I would seriously have to disagree. I don't mean this maliciously, but the American soldiers are not held in high regard over here. It's not their fault, the American mentality seems to be that they can win a conflict by throwing more man power and money at it than the enemy can. This is reflected in the style and level of training that Americans recieve. As was quoted before, they can't "think outside the box" (I hate that phrase, it's too much like management jargon). A British soldier however HAS to be able to, as they have to be capable of many jobs without relying on a specialist unit to do it for them.

I don't mean to offend anyone by highlighting the following, but if you look at the recent conflicts we have fought together the differences become apparent.
In Afghanistan four Brittish SBS soldiers were awarded the highest American decoration for rescuing a company of rangers who were pinned down by the taliban. I'm not sure of the exact details of this, such as the lay of the ground etc. but four British special forces soldiers rescuing a company of American special forces is a big deal no matter how you look at it.
Looking at Iraq, how much trouble have you heard of in Basra when compare to the American AoR? (I am aware that the Americen AoR is considerably bigger)
Also the American's reputation for friendly fire is apalling, even with their gucci FFI equipment.

I really don't mean to sound aggressive or like I'm gloating, it's not the soldier's fault, it's the mentality of their forces which is left over from the cold war era.

Sitting there somparing strengths and weaknesses and measuring our guns is not going to go anywhere. I think like somebody said before they are just different. I am patriotic as they come and I love my country. However, I can say that I respect every honest and loyal soldier out there, no matter the country they defend. It is not fair of you either to stereotype an entire force of soldiers into one nut shell. Not all American soldiers have trouble thinking outside of the box, and I have witnessed some terrfic leadership and capablilties in American soldiers. All I am getting at is that it is not fair to generalize and that comparing is redundant because of the differences in size and armament. Not trying to pick a fight at all. Just an opinion.

the british army is by far the best army in the old world[if i may be alowd to use that term. but the russians also have great ability in terms of numbers

You know what? I believe I have been around them long enough to have a solid opinion:
They are tough professionals.
Again, I got to work with their Armored units, Infantry and SAS. Everything from mounted and dismounted urban ops to LRRP stuff and team work as UNMOs...
I have good memories and loved it all!!! and I am French!
So take my word for it!
It is not about who is going to kick the other one's butt. It is about the British as soldiers, good or not or whatever it means anyways!!!
Toughness, endurance, training, equipment, versatility, leadership, adaptability, resourcefulness....you name it...many qualities are needed to make a good soldier!!!

as much as i hate to admit it the english are probably the no1 army in the world, the aussie armys very good but not the size of the other armys such as us and the brits which is the reason i rank the brits as no1 at the moment.
and as far as tactical edges comments on the brits being beaten by "some farmers and badly trained men" it does sound like vietnam too , lot of famers in that war and they won. ( no offence intended to veterens of that conflict) also without the help of the french would the U.S of won the revolution? the U.S hasn't been a deciding factor in as many wars as tactical edge may think.

Well, not unless you count WWII, which sorta protected the whole world from complete and utter destruction and dehumanization.