I am currently serving in the Royal Navy though I leave in july to begin a new life ( though the General's thin red line line speech was close to making me withdraw my notice! awesome) I personally do not take advantage of the discount but the mere existence of such a scheme is enough for me to feel warmer than this country has ever made me feel for my service. I volunteered to join the Navy and I fully expected to experience some level of combat during my time. What I did not expect was to provide was humanitarian aid to the victims of Montserrat, or to ferry British citizens to safety from Beirut this summer. Unfortunately the British public have always been frighteningly ill-informed about what we do and your quote was no exception. I can only agree that there are many deserving people out there and I can understand your dismay at us being singled out but as far as I'm aware, when work is over most people go home to loved ones or friends or even just to read the local rag. And at these very moments we're not just in the high profile spots like Iraq and Afghanistan, we're in Belize, the Falklands, the Antarctic and west africa. And whilst you might assume that our greatest concern is losing a limb or a life, you'd be wrong, as not seeing my wife and children for seven solid months is head and shoulders the top of my shit-list. The American attitude to the Forces has always been a warmer more appreciative approach and I've always been jealous of it. Or at least I was until we got our General who, with help from VTers, put in place this lovely scheme to make me feel warm. And you don't like it. Well, cheers pal. Absolutely no need for the insult, no matter how strongly you disagree with the poster - please cease this behavior or a card will be forthcoming - Bicks