Brits on exercise naked in Norwegian pub

[Bearcat]

This is the main story in several norewgian newspapers today 29 february. A pub in Harstad, a small city in northern norway, got a rather nasty visit from group of british soldiers, apparently from the Royal Marines. They found it justified to sexually harass women and strip butt naked. They pissed on the inventory and two of them found it funny to piss on a fellow soldier taking push ups in the bar.

ww.ht.no/incoming/article139666.ece

When I read this I first got a laught. But in retrospect, WTF are these brits thinking?? Today, everybody has a mobile with a camera, so of course this is going to the media. And when the shit hits the fan it's comming straight back to the soldiers. All the hard work most of the other brits put down to have a good relationship with the civillian people in the AO has gone down the drain.

This behavior is not new. In Norway it's what we "expect" from them. The Dutch, Germans, Americans, Canadians are much diffrent. There might be a bust between the locals sometimes but they do not have the same nasty reputation as the brits.

So congrats Royal Marines, you did it again...

 

[wittmanace]

one woman went so far as to say she doesnt feel safe in town at night because of the soldiers, and all the women in the bar were groped. but how do you know they were marines? it doesnt say in the article...it says the unit is unknown but they are british soldiers.

 

[Alpha Epsilon]

They should be disciplined in front of a military court and be chucked out of HM Armed Forces. Depending on severity of the incident a prison sentence would be in order.

 

[nevidimka]

Why would they wanna get naked? and look at each others thing?

 

[riksavage]

Harmless fun - the naked bar call was given! Post exercise piss-up, nothing more. Anyone who has served in the armed forces will probably have similar tales to tell.

 

[Waylander]

Pissing on each other?

Errrhm, no.

And if the women there felt offended In don't think that it is that harmless but that's just my humble opinion.

 

[eckherl]

Soldiers can do some crazy stuff, especially after coming back from the field, but in this case it sounds like they went way overboard. I would hate to be them after their Sargeant Major gets ahold of them.

 

[wittmanace]

no way is it harmless fun when women are groped and also verbally abused by groups of drunken soldiers. in your own town you should feel safe at night from soldiers that are there as visitors. no two ways about it. if you read the article in norwegian you might realise that it isnt just being naked in public, it is the groping women and the abuse as well as urinating all over a local bar that is offensive.

 

[kato]

Would get them a week or so in the hole, if they were German, for "tarnishing the army" or something like that.
Before actual judicial proceedings, that is.

 

[Tasman]

Harmless fun - the naked bar call was given! Post exercise piss-up, nothing more. Anyone who has served in the armed forces will probably have similar tales to tell.

It may have started off as an attempt at some harmless fun but, IMO, they went way too far. Abusing women is never acceptable at any time. They have certainly done nothing to enhance the reputation of British soldiers abroad. I think their CO should throw the book at them.

Tas

 

[Jon K]

Harmless fun - the naked bar call was given! Post exercise piss-up, nothing more. Anyone who has served in the armed forces will probably have similar tales to tell.

No, not at all. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In Scandinavia it is utterly insulting to behave like that if one is a member of a uniform group. These same guys are ones we are told that excel in counter-insurgency, building trust with local communities. That does not mean bleeding heart stuff but the main condition is to respect the local customs.

 

[KiwiRob]

It all sounds quite hypocritical when a couple of weeks before the 17th of May I quite often see groups of naked Norwegian teenagers (RUSS) running around town acting like idiots and doing all sorts of silly things. Neither does it sound any worse than any student pub crawl I went on or many of the rugby club parties I've been too.

As usual for Norway especially in small towns not a lot happens so anything can end up making the news no matter how trivial, these silly pointless stories end up making the national papers and get blown all out of proportion.

 

[riksavage]

I was having a laugh with a couple of former RM guys over this incident. Naked bar is common call, but in this case things went a little too far. According to my colleague it was common on Norway deployments, following a run-ashore, for RMP's to tour the barracks checking for bruised knuckles and faces, woe betide anyone caught with incriminating injuries!

Apparently the guys involved have already been fined and have had 'interviews without coffee' with the RSM!