In the service of their country - Sergeant Robert Loughran-Dickson

Sergeant Robert Loughran-Dickson
Royal Military Police

It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Sergeant Robert David Loughran-Dickson of the Royal Military Police in Afghanistan on 18 November 2009.

Sergeant Loughran-Dickson died as a result of gunshot wounds sustained whilst taking part in a routine patrol in the vicinity of Patrol Base Wahid, in Nad-e-Ali District, Helmand Province.

Sergeant Robert David Loughran-Dickson, 4th Regiment, Royal Military Police

Sergeant Robert Loughran-Dickson, known as Robert to his family, Rob or L-D to his friends and colleagues, was 33 at the time of his death.

The youngest of three children, he was born and raised in the town of Deal in Kent. Together with his two sisters, he attended a local village primary school of fewer than 100 children, followed by the town's secondary school.

Sergeant Loughran-Dickson attended further education and, following this, in 1997 he enlisted into the Army, in the Royal, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME).

In 2001 Sergeant Loughran-Dickson transferred to the Royal Military Police and, over the course of his career, deployed on operations in Kosovo, Iraq, Northern Ireland and finally Afghanistan. He was initially posted to 156 Provost Company and subsequently moved on to 160 Provost Company, 4th Regiment Royal Military Police which led to his deployment on Operation Herrick 11, in Helmand Province.

Sergeant Loughran-Dickson held a variety of positions during his time in the Army, including Police Post Non-Commissioned Officer, Motor Transport Non-Commissioned Officer, and Crime Reduction and Local Intelligence Officer. This last job was the one in which he got the most job satisfaction, giving crime reduction presentations, visiting schools or processing intelligence, and the job where he gained his promotion to Sergeant.

He was a keen runner, who enjoyed preparing for, and running marathon races, as well as hill-walking and swimming.

Sergeant Loughran-Dickson was the proud father of a son, also named Robert, born in September 1992.

Lieutenant Colonel Debbie Poneskis, Commanding Officer, 4th Regiment, Royal Military Police, said:
"Sergeant Loughran-Dickson was an exceptional soldier and was completely committed to the Royal Military Police; he will be sorely missed by the Regiment and by the military community in Aldershot.

"Prior to his deployment to Afghanistan, Sergeant Loughran-Dickson was the Local Intelligence Officer and a Community Policeman; he excelled in this role, where his calm personable nature, dedication and commitment plus his consistent enthusiasm for the job, made him stand out.

"He was totally professional, easy company and was the first to volunteer for anything – whether it was helping his colleagues, attending community events out of hours or taking on additional tasks. I had absolute faith in Sergeant Loughran-Dickson: he was utterly reliable, wise beyond his years and he simply got on with the job, quietly and without fuss.

"He was an extremely proud father, and his son Robert is a credit to him."

Major Phil Hacker, Company Commander, 160 Provost Company, said:
"We have lost a talented, dedicated and much loved Senior Non-Commissioned Officer. Sergeant Loughran-Dickson was deeply respected by all who served with him. Undoubtedly professional, he was adored by those he led and by those who served with him.

"As a professional soldier and as a man, he has left a lasting contribution towards helping the people of Afghanistan. He will be sadly missed and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones."

Captain Karen Tait, Operations Officer, 160 Provost Company, said:
"Sergeant L-D was an honest, caring, genuine and devoted soldier and father. He was the kind of man who commanded respect from all who worked with him. His work back in Aldershot was exemplary and in his role out here, even in such a short space of time, he was far superior.

"L-D was a true friend whom I will deeply miss and even now cannot comprehend the void he will leave, not only in me but those he has served with and those he loved deeply and who loved him. I was proud and honoured to serve with him but above all being able to call him my friend. His smile I will miss the most."

Lieutenant Dominic Ellis, Platoon Commander, 160 Provost Company, said:
"Sergeant Rob Loughran-Dickson was a fine soldier and Military Policeman. Intelligent, confident, courteous and stalwart, he led from the front, happy to get stuck in at the sharp end, always setting an excellent example to his subordinates.

"Sergeant Loughran-Dickson could always be relied on to provide sound advice for junior officers who had the privilege to have him under their command. His professionalism ensured he was well respected by all he worked with, regardless of rank.

"Sergeant Loughran-Dickson's death is a tragic loss to the Royal Military Police and the British Army as a whole and my sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends."

Warrant Officer Class 2 Jon Barnett, Company Sergeant Major, said:
"When I arrived at 160 Company in Aldershot, L-D was one of the first Non-Commissioned Officers I met. I knew that when he was on shift, with such an abundance of confidence, he had the ability to produce the goods under pressure. It was a pleasure to see him promoted to Sergeant and work with him here in Afghanistan, where he thrived on the responsibility and the opportunity to lead from the front.

"He was one of the most professional Senior Non-Commissioned Officers I have had the pleasure of knowing."

Book Review: Revolution 1989 - The fall of the Soviet Empire

By Roger Green, Principal Reviewer, U K Defence Forum

Victor Sebestyen is a Hungarian by birth who left Hungary when he was an infant with his parents as refugees.  He is a journalist who has worked on many British newspapers and was Foreign Editor and chief leader writer at the London Evening Standard.  He covered the war in the former Yugoslavia and his first book 'Twelve Days' on the 1956 Hungarian Uprising was widely acclaimed.  During 1989 he reported widely from Eastern Europe on the collapse of Communism and this experience forms the basis of this book.

It is not a deep analytical work into the underlying reasons for the collapse of Communism.  It is more a commentary on the events throughout 1989 as each of the USSR satellite nations foundered.  It provides a view of the Russian leadership and the intrigue surrounding how Gorbachev came to power after Andropov, although he was not Andropov's chosen successor.  There is a clear insight into the development of Gorbachev's policy to these satellite countries and his recognition of the fundamental problems with the Russian economy that he recognised could not continue to financially support the economies of Easter Europe.  However, Sebestyen observes how he was faced with many senior colleagues who did not see the future in the same way and obstructed his reforms whenever and wherever they could.

 It is of interest that as events unfolded to read how Gorbachev used them to strengthen his position and to influence the far wider economic reforms that he wanted to implement.  The development of his relations with the major Western democracies was always on Gorbachev's mind during this period, as he desperately wanted to end the arms race that was distorting the Russian economy and preventing the reforms.  Of particular interest given the eventual outcome in November 1989, is the relationship between Gorbachev and each of the leaders of the satellite states.  Sebestyen demonstrates how Gorbachev decided to distance himself from the Presidents and Party Leaders of these countries in order to force them to resolve their own domestic and economic problems as well as the political frictions that arose between them and their neighbouring Communist allies.  However, Gorbachev was a staunch believer in communism and although he wanted to see major economic and domestic reforms in these countries he expected them to be carried out within the communist party system.

The book is not an easy one to read as Sebestyen has chosen to address the problems of each of the satellite countries in turn but in the order that key events occurred across the countries.  This technique makes it difficult to follow the roles of the key politicians and leaders in each of these countries as the reader is brought back to the next key event.  It is well researched and has a formidable reference list and bibliography that underpins the wealth of facts that support the commentary.  The written references by key party and opposition figures are supplemented by the personal accounts recorded at the time and interviews given by those involved.  However, the amount of detail that presumably Sebestyen judged would add veracity to his account often results in an overkill of information.  For example, it was unnecessary to mention the names of the three members of the Pope's Curio who were instrumental in the passage of funds from the US to Solidarity; it is enough to know that the Vatican was involved.

The Soviet involvement in Afghanistan and how to disengage without undermining the Afghan Communist leadership was a major headache for Gorbachev.  It took him many years before he acted despite repeatedly debating the issue in Moscow.  He was concerned about the domestic reaction to a withdrawal from a country where so many Russian soldiers had died.  And in a further parallel to current events, he reflected on the fact that his predecessors in going into Afghanistan had ignored the lessons of history from the British that Afghanistan is a country that cannot be conquered.  An interesting counterpoint to Gorbachev's objective of withdrawal is that the CIA totally misread the situation over time and was lamentably ill informed of Soviet intentions there.

Although from the outset Gorbachev had made clear his intentions to keep the satellite countries at arms length and not to use Soviet troops in support of the local regimes, it is amazing that the leaders and party chiefs of these countries took so long to recognise that they had to take charge of their own destinies.  This was especially so in terms of their economies, the majority of which were perilously close to bankruptcy and which Gorbachev had no intention or the means of bailing out.  What is clear from Sebestyen's commentary is that these leaders were blind to events and the inevitable conclusion is that they were arrogant and complacent whilst their state and party organisations were incompetent and inefficient. 

The Romanian leadership was an extreme case in point where Ceauşescu refused to believe what was happening despite the ill organised opposition, until he was arrested and 3 days later he and his wife were shot.  In East Germany the key to events was the illness of Honecker that virtually paralysed the leadership.  There was no organised response to the opposition who saw an opportunity having been well aware of what had happened in neighbouring states.  The 'breach' in the Berlin Wall occurred because of an error by a party official in not fully reading a briefing document prior to a radio interview when he said that the people could travel freely with immediate effect.  Although it was planned to lift travel restrictions the following day the regime had meant to monitor closely the travel of their citizens.

The downfall of the Soviet Empire took different forms in each of the countries.  Some states had reasonably well-organised opposition parties that struggled over many years and through a succession of compromises managed to unseat their communist leaders, whilst others were opportunists that were almost surprised by their own success and subsequently had difficulty in capitalising on their emergence into positions of power.

For the people who lived through this period in the West and recall the headlines over that decade, this book will add substance and reveal the facts that generated many of the myths and much conjecture that emerged at that time.  For younger readers for whom these events are only history, it will provide a detailed insight of what conditions were like in the Soviet satellite countries and the harsh rule that the people endured under Communism and how the people themselves threw off the communist yoke

This book is a compelling account and detailed record of those momentous historical events that resulted in the demise of the Soviet Union, but readers who are looking for a rigorous and in-depth analysis of the East-West politics of the decade leading to this downfall will be disappointed.

Revolution 1989 - The Fall of the Soviet Empire.
By Victor Sebestyen
Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson (ISBN: 978 0 297 85223 0)

Nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament

By Michael Hancock MP (UK, Lib) Vice-Chairman and Rapporteur, Assembly of the Western European Union

The European Security and Defence Assembly through its Political Committee has focused extensively on issues of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. In recent years it has produced a series of reports providing detailed accounts of the various global non-proliferation efforts and making important recommendations as regards achieving their ultimate goals.

This report aims to continue this constructive debate and more importantly to provide input for the various fora involved in formulating non-proliferation policy at a crucial time when the two big superpowers are heading towards a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and the United Nations is preparing for its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010.

START:

The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) between the US and Russia, is due to expire on 5 December 2009. Presidents Obama and Medvedev met in Moscow in July and signed a framework document in order to provide guidance for the negotiators of a follow-on agreement.

While START I required a reduction in the number of intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems to 1 600 on each side, the new START will call for a further decrease to 500-1100. The 2002 non-binding Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) limited the number of deployed warheads to 1700-2200: the new START will call for a cutback to 1500-1675. It was recently stated that both sides are aiming to commit to negotiating the lower figures indicated. This would in fact be ideal, since cutbacks to the higher figures of 1 100 for delivery systems and 1 675 for deployed warheads would not represent any significant reduction in the current arsenals.

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