A WHOLE NEW YEAR!

Welcome to Volume 6 Issue 1!

Yes, that’s right, it’s a whole new year of Raider to look forward to and I hope that excites you as much as it does me! Over the past year the team and I have tried extremely hard to take Raider in a new direction, and with the IWA Show in Germany just around the corner as I write it does appear that we are going from strength to strength.

Our relationship with all the gear and firearm manufacturers is stronger than ever; this week I’ve been contacting all the great people I want to see at the Show, and the reception from them has been truly staggering. Once upon a time it was a real battle to secure appointments; this time it’s like speaking to old friends, and in fact they’ve been chasing me to commit to a time.

It just goes to show that Raider is viewed within the industry as a game changer now; we’ve proved our ability fully to report accurately and to review fairly. A number of the manufacturers have admitted openly that Raider has helped with the recognition of their products, and “word of mouth” within the industry is really opening some new, and very special, doors in the tactical world to us!

The list of folk to see at the Show is extensive, and I’m already getting excited at what I’ll have to report back to you in the next issue; I think you’ll be surprised at who I’m going to be seeing in Germany.

And it’s not only on the technical gear side that Raider is making progress; it was a real pleasure to speak to my old friend Garreth at Veterans at Ease earlier this month, and I’m pleased that he had some very encouraging news to pass on to me.

As you’ll see in Direct Action this month our troops are starting to come home early from Afghanistan, and I’m certain that some of them will need the help that Veterans at Ease offers; it was great to hear from Garreth that he’s actually been contacted already from troops still in theatre to enquire about VaE. They’d seen Raider in Afghanistan and contacted Garreth for more information.

Now if that isn’t getting to the heart of the matter I don’t know what is!

Rounding up then, Raider has its usual spread this month of articles, news, and reviews, and as always I hope that you enjoy the mix.

Raider; Eye on the Target, and Boots on the Ground!

WHERE NEXT???

2013 is a whole new year, and as we talk about the drawdown of our service personnel from Afghanistan and our men and women coming home I have to ponder the questions what, and where next?

Sabres are still being rattled in Argentina, and their bullish approach to any and all proposed dialogue would indicate that they may try to take things further. Syria is currently a “close watch” situation, with small escalations seeming to take place on a daily basis. At the time of writing we’ve just seen the deployment of a small number of British troops to Mali in support of the French operations there and our commitments to maritime security (please see Direct Action this month) seem to be as heavy as ever.

On the flip side of this I read with some disgust of troops still on the front line being approached and offered “early redundancy” while they are still in an active and perilous war zone. Where is this going and how much can our stoic troops actually take? Once again they are being asked to go “above and beyond” and it is the measure of British Forces that they face all of this with their usual tenacity.

“Where next?” is also a question I ask myself about Raider on a regular basis. As our regulars will know we’ve continued to make changes to the magazine but I believe we have it cracked now. It’s been my great pleasure to work more closely with contributors from around the globe, and it’s been really exciting to see how this has affected our readership! The Raider Face book page has seen more traffic than ever in the past few weeks which would indicate to me that more and more folk are talking about us.

Following a busy SHOT Show we’ve managed to hook up with even more kit manufacturers from around the world too; our good friend Eric Fine from The Gear Locker brings us a super report this month from Las Vegas. This is going to be followed up with “boots on the ground” at IWA in Germany; appointments are already in hand and I for one am really looking forward to hooking up with friends old and new!

It’s our aim to continue to bring you the best possible reports and reviews that we can.

There’s never a dull moment in the Raider office I can tell you, and you can rest assured that wherever things do go next we’ll be there to make sure that the stories of our troops do get told!

Raider; Eye on the Target and Boots on the Ground”

Bill

ON PATROL

SHOT SHOW ROUNDUP!

DESAPATCHES

FORCES NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

NEW GEAR ESSENTIALS

THE ALL NEW PILGRIM BOOT FROM AKU

PROFILED!

STATUREMAN CUSTOM KYDEX HOLSTERS!

TRIED AND TESTED X 2!!!

OUR TEAM HAVE YOU COVERED!

DIRECT ACTION

THE ROYAL NAVY AT THE SHARP END

SPECIAL REPORT

NEW FIREARMS FILM TECH FROM CAMO-IT!

ON OUR RADAR X 2!!!

MILITARY AND SURVIVAL; WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED?

ARCHIVES

THE NEXT PART OF THE FALKLANDS WAR STORY

FIREPOWER

UK FORCES ADOPTION OF THE GLOCK 17 GEN 4

BIGGER AND BOLDER THAN EVER, RAIDER KEEPS IT ROLLING!!!

IN COUNTRY AND IN TOUCH

What a wonderful thing the Internet is!

Now I know that there has been a lot of talk recently about online abuse, and in my opinion the “trolls” out there that can potentially ruin peoples’ lives or even careers deserve everything the weight of the law can throw at them! That said, when social networking is used politely it is truly a wonderful thing.

Recently I was sitting quietly having fun with my Facebook page when up popped a message; nothing unusual there, but then I realised it was from my good friend Don who is in theatre serving with one of the USMC Advisory Teams. We spent a happy half hour pinging messages back and forth, and we both ended up having a proper laugh.

For me, sitting in the comfort of my office at home, this was fine, but after we’d finished our online “chat” it suddenly struck me that Don was in his billet in theatre and I had no real idea of the exact conditions he was in. The fact was though that he was his usual happy-go-lucky, upbeat self and I have to admit that my already high regard of him went up yet another notch!

Here was a young man, thousands of miles away from his wife and family, doing his job with commensurate, skill, grace, and good humour, and taking time to speak to his friends. The fact that danger lurks all around him, and he’s already got prior tours under his belt just doesn’t seem to faze him. He’s there, like thousands of other service personnel from all over the world, just “doing his job”.

We really all have a lot to thank them for, and I hope that Don, and all the service personnel serving away from home this Christmas have a very happy and safe one.

And yes, this is the pre-Christmas edition already so I’ve got the team together to make some suggestions for presents; we’ve been out and about with our boots on the ground seeing our favourite tactical gear providers so you’ll find some nice ideas in “On Patrol” this month!

It’s been yet another busy month for the Raider Team, and again I’ll thank the internet too for all the positive mails I’ve received from you, and for all the great comments that have come in after the changes made last issue. Thanks to you I know that we are fully on the right track now in terms of content and I’ll endeavour to make sure that this trend continues.

The mix of news, informative articles, and reviews seems to have hit the right tone with you, so that’s the way we’ll keep it rolling from this point on!

Raider; Eye on the Target, Boots on the Ground!

Be Big, Be Bold!

So, here it is then, the first issue of the new look Raider! You may already have noticed from the cover that there are some new sections in your favourite military magazine, and when you get inside I sincerely hope you will like what you’ll find!

Raider has been essentially the same in tone and layout for the last five years, and we all decided that an overhaul was well overdue. Of course, this kind of process takes time and careful planning so that we can make sure that the content is still well thought out and meticulously and logically presented.

I’ve had so many letters and emails about Survival and Outdoor Living Skills and Equipment from you, our readers so I got together with the team to put a whole new feel for the magazine into motion. Luckily I have, shall we say, some experience in this field as I’ve been teaching it on and off for over 25 years! I’ve worked as an Instructor, and I’ve worked with some of the biggest names in equipment in the outdoor pursuit’s world. I still love to get out into the forests and mountains as often as I can, although some of the lads in the office think I’m a bit strange for doing so.

Don’t worry though as we’ll still be bringing you the latest operational and Armed Forces news that we always have, along with our popular Firepower, Mobility, and Unit Profile features. Tried and Tested will be larger, in two sections, as will our book and media reviews. I also want to work even more closely with those that provide us with Tactical Gear and Clothing, so I’ll be speaking directly to the retailers and dealers we trust to bring you a more personal insight into what they do.

Change is inevitable, and I’m sure you’ll agree once you’ve read through this issue that we’ve put some more meat on the old gal. I certainly know that the team and I are excited, and I hope you will be too; stick around, the ride is going to get wilder!

Raider; Eye on the Target, Boots on the Ground!

Bill

Go On The Lads and Lasses!

As I sit here writing this month we’re bang in the middle of the 2012 London Olympics, and beggar me if our lads and lasses in the services are not just protecting the competitors and spectators from harm, but they’re out there winning the medals too! Congratulations to all our Olympians, and I’m sure you’ll join me in saying a big “Thank You” to all the servicemen and women who’ve been on duty around the country.

This has been tough duty for many of them; some of whom were dragged in almost at the last gasp to plug the holes that the private sector was unable to. Whilst the Olympians have their village and visitors have their choice of fine hotels, it’s not exactly been an easy life for the troops (see Despatches News for more on this). Still, as many of them have seen active service over the last few years I’m certain that temporary billets are way better that what they encountered in theatre!

Sadly though, it does make a solemn point; with talk of numbers once again being cut in coming years, from a standing army of 102,000 down to a meagre 82,000, it does make me wonder if our forces would have been able to bridge the gap so effectively with those lower numbers? As a colleague said to me, “82,000 is not an army, it’s a militia!”

I’m absolutely certain that our troops would have risen to the task and given it their all in their usual inimitable fashion, but really, can we afford just to keep cutting back and cutting back?

Only time will tell.

On a cheerier note I’m going to announce that there will be a few changes going on with Raider in the coming months! Regular readers will have already noticed that there has been a little bit of a “changing of the guard” with new contributors coming aboard in recent months, and this trend is set to continue. Raider has remained essentially the same for five years now, and it’s very much the feeling within the (ever growing!) team that it’s time we gave the old gal a good shake up!

Now don’t worry, we’ll still be backing our troops 100% with our military community and operational news items, but we’re going to revamp the overall layout and throw in even more features for you; more features, more reviews, more tried and tested. I feel that we owe it to you, our readers and friends out there, to go just that little bit further, so keep your eye out for Issue 7!

Raider; Eye on the Target, Boots on the Ground!

Bill