back to article Publishing military officers' names 'creates Islamic State hitlist'

The Ministry of Defence has been accused of creating an Islamic State hitlist by publishing the names and ranks of Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force officers. Made available to the public since the 18th century, the Army and Navy Lists contain the names, service numbers, ranks and date of seniority of every serving officer …

  1. Alan J. Wylie

    "For security reasons we're apparently not supposed to say who they are."

    But you did!

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/30/first_f_35b_joint_strike_fighter_lands_uk/

    1. gazthejourno (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: "For security reasons we're apparently not supposed to say who they are."

      You damn officer-naming terrorists get everywhere!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "For security reasons we're apparently not supposed to say who they are."

        Obviously it's beyond the wit of a terrorist to look in the pubs and clubs surrounding army bases.

        It's also a good job squadies lead such low profile lives so their impossible to spot when out on the raz.

        1. Danny 14

          Re: "For security reasons we're apparently not supposed to say who they are."

          "im sorry, I need to refer you to the battalion press officer"

          I still remember that bad water colour infantry "manual".

  2. Alister

    ...though the Army still sees a strong benefit to influencing future captains of industry, leaders of the Empire and officers of the East India Company's steamships.

    I did chuckle at that.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Islamic State Hitlist

    And we should remove all the road signs as well, as was done during Second World War. At the moment we have the deplorable situation where terrorists can find their way to the Houses of Parliament, Heathrow Airport and other potential targets without any difficulty whatsoever!

    1. Pen-y-gors

      Re: Islamic State Hitlist

      And what's more they can buy maps showing those places, without having to show any form of ID.

      Hang on...isn't there an offence something like "possession of material likely to be of use to a terrorist"?

      ARREST W H SMITH NOW!!!!

    2. Commswonk

      Re: Islamic State Hitlist

      And we should remove all the road signs as well, as was done during Second World War.

      It was sometime in the mid 1990s when I did a job near Cold Overton in Leicestershire. On completion I had to drive a largish vehicle (i.r.o. 10 Tonne) back to Birmingham. It was not long before I came to the conclusion that the local road signs had not been so much "removed" during WW2 but turned to point in misleading directions and not put back again afterwards.

      Annoying enough in a car, bloody difficult in an HGV.

      At the time it didn't seem very funny...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Commswonk

        Perhaps that might explain why back in '99 I attempted to drive a friend on a day trip from Wroxton to Bath, but we got lost and stopped seeing signs for Bath - so when we saw a sign for Salsbury we decided we should visit Stonehenge instead!

    3. Alister

      Re: Islamic State Hitlist

      I'm sure i've read somewhere, and seen a photograph, of a road sign that says "<< Secret Government Facility" which points to GCHQ or Fylingdales or some such installation.

      1. NightFox

        Re: Islamic State Hitlist

        I think you might be thinking of the various "Secret Bunker" signs dotted around the country where cold war nuclear control bunkers have been re-opened as tourist attractions

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Headmaster

      @ Smooth Newt

      "deplorable situation where terrorists can find their way to the Houses of Parliament, Heathrow Airport..."

      Its spelled TOURISTS!!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bloody hell!

    Next they'll be giving out the names of the people in charge of MI5 and GCHQ !

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Definitely need to censor the name of every MP and member of the House of Lords, even the Royal Family should remain anonymous.

    Your voting paper should just have pseudonyms - most people seem to vote by party anyway.

    1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      The Royal Fami,y should be safe - as they are alien space lizards* anyway they've always used pseudonyms.

      * BTW, does anyone know whether they glow in the dark or not? I have €10 riding on this.

  6. Christoph

    "Historians and genealogists love them for tracing family members, and that's about the most you can do with them.

    But they do have other uses!

    Jack. His name would appear in the Army Lists of the period, I suppose, Aunt Augusta?

    Lady Bracknell. The General was essentially a man of peace, except in his domestic life. But I have no doubt his name would appear in any military directory.

    Jack. The Army Lists of the last forty years are here. These delightful records should have been my constant study. [Rushes to bookcase and tears the books out.] M. Generals . . . Mallam, Maxbohm, Magley, what ghastly names they have—Markby, Migsby, Mobbs, Moncrieff! Lieutenant 1840, Captain, Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel, General 1869, Christian names, Ernest John. [Puts book very quietly down and speaks quite calmly.] I always told you, Gwendolen, my name was Ernest, didn’t I? Well, it is Ernest after all. I mean it naturally is Ernest.

  7. Pete 2 Silver badge

    Don't tell him, Pike!

    I wonder if journalists on The Times don't spend just a leeeeetle too much time watching old sitcoms for ideas of "news" stories?

  8. szielins
    Alert

    FLASH - FLASH - FLASH

    It's even worse than we thought! Defeatist liberal policy enables terrorists to identify members of the military at a distance and in within crowds, by forcing our boys to wear visually distinctive uniforms! Clearly, this is going to have to change. Now, concealed weapons are a constant threat, but we also don't want terrorists to be able to identify the military by virtue of their being the only ones armed. Hence, the only acceptable policy is to require the military to go armed at all times, require civilians to carry plastic and lead mock-ups of identical mass, and ban all clothing.

    1. Commswonk

      Re: FLASH - FLASH - FLASH

      At the risk of attracting downvotes does the name Fusilier Lee Rigby ring any bells? Or the attempted abduction of an RAF Serviceman near RAF Marham?

      The risk to service personnel might be greater than you realise.

      1. Danny 14

        Re: FLASH - FLASH - FLASH

        Just go to York on a Saturday night. Half of Catterick garrison on weekend leave will be there. It isn't as though you cant spot a load of squaddies on a night out (fresh after being paid)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Flame

        Re: FLASH - FLASH - FLASH

        At the risk of attracting downvotes does the name Fusilier Lee Rigby ring any bells? Or the attempted abduction of an RAF Serviceman near RAF Marham?

        The risk to service personnel might be greater than you realise.

        This is a "think of the children" respin isn't it.

        Lee Rigby wasn't an officer, so wasn't in the Army LIst, but was easily identified because he was wearing a ceremonial uniform.

        Norfolk Police said of the RAF serviceman incident that "The motivation for the attack remains unclear and whilst we are currently unable to discount terrorism, there are a number of other possible hypotheses." So it was "obviously" a terrorist attack - especially as it was done by people of "Middle Eastern" appearance, because what else do they do.

        So, let's do some non-evidence based random acts of pointless security theatre to show that we are "thinking of the children servicemen".

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Security worries indeed

    Is it not about time we took all road signs down as well. After all geographical locations could be cross referenced with names in the electoral roll and what not

  10. alain williams Silver badge

    Let's add to the hit list ...

    We all know that ISIS staff don't know how to use google. So I had better help them:

    List of MPs

    List of judges

    List of UK Royal Family

    List of Mayors

    I must stop - the noise from the descending black helicopter is making it hard to think.

  11. knarf

    Major Hazard

    I was working at an insurance company where they have a policy for a gentleman in the army called "Major Hazard" .

    1. Alister

      Re: Major Hazard

      He's in the same regiment as Corporal Punishment, Private Convenience, and General Quarters.

      1. israel_hands

        Re: Major Hazard

        You seem very clued up on military personnel. Perhaps you can explain who the devil this General Failure chap is and why he's reading my C:\ drive?

        1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

          Re: Major Hazard

          Also, Major Dilemma.

        2. Alister

          Re: Major Hazard

          Perhaps you can explain who the devil this General Failure chap is and why he's reading my C:\ drive?

          Well obviously he's military liaison with GCHQ...

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Major Hazard

            Where as all your not particularly adult, intelligent or wise comments, ignoring the current Clear and Present Danger, is mainly posted by Major Wanker, Peter Pulling and Robin Littlewood, all stout and common IT-names...

  12. NightFox

    Also the Police

    Police officers aren't required to divulge their names when they would otherwise be required to if whatever they're dealing with is related to terrorism (which, as we all know, includes just about everything these days). Because obviously PC Smith identifying himself when carrying out a stop-and-search is going to put him right at the top of ISIS hit-list, who would otherwise never be able to track him down without his name.

    I also question why uniformed armed officers and the like frequently feel the need to disguise themselves by wearing balaclavas (no, not flash hoods) - I suspect in most cases it's more to do with achieving the Hollywood look than any qualified threat of reprisal compared to that for any other uniformed police officer, or is the photo of the local beat officer on my village noticeboard soon going to be anonymised and have black tape put over his eyes?

    1. Alistair
      Coat

      Re: Also the Police

      The balaclavas are because civilians have cellphones. Not hiding from terrorists on another continent.

      Same as the fallen bodycam issue.

  13. MJI Silver badge

    A tip for terrorists

    Nice little country town Hereford has a nearby military base.

    RAF Hereford

    I suggest you go there one at a time, and upon seeing anyone outside walk up to them, state you are a terrorist and would like to see the base.

    They will then take you on a tour, someone will enjoy it.

    1. Commswonk

      Re: A tip for terrorists

      Ah yes; Credenhill.

      They will then take you on a tour, someone will enjoy it.

      Hint: it probably won't be you.

    2. peasant

      Re: A tip for terrorists

      They could also enjoy a tour of Colchester which I believe currently houses about 16000 SO military including a few of the regiments you may be thinking of as well. A few elite IS would might reduce that number by no more than nil I guess

    3. Mog_X

      Re: A tip for terrorists

      If I go on this tour, will I be able to see what colour the boathouse is?

    4. Aspie73

      Re: A tip for terrorists

      I spent a week on a cadet leadership course at RAF Hereford back in 1989. We had a tour of the base next door and had a go on their assault course. Bloody fantastic fun.

  14. Fazal Majid

    “The security of our people is our foremost concern”

    I thought the foremost concern was the defense of the realm, and that often entails deliberately putting the said people in harm's way.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    We should keep the results of the upcoming US election secret

    If the terrorists learn whether Clinton or Trump is president they will know who to attack! Press conferences can be given behind a screen, with one of those voice disguisers.

  16. Paul Hovnanian Silver badge

    Daesh is busy searching

    for two guys named Maverick and Goose.

  17. Winkypop Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Psssst

    [It's the people in military-style uniforms]

    [Pass it on...]

  18. Colin Millar

    IS Hitlist

    Our hitlist comprises

    Everyone apart from you and me

    On second thoughts - here - have a bullet

  19. julian.smith

    The Murdoch Times

    It's still a thing?

    - who knew

  20. Jamie Jones Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Jamie Jones is a risk to my safety?

    So, if some guy called 'Jamie Jones' is in the military, then the fact that "my" name is listed also makes me a target?

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