YOUR correspondent Mr Powne (May 30) suggests I am being badly advised by the past and present service personnel who are speaking out to me about the pointlessness of the Dartmoor live firing ranges. I think not.
They are officers and other ranks (past and present and mostly of considerable military experience) fed up with a large portion of the defence budget, taxpayers' money, going direct to the Duchy of Cornwall instead of being used to adequately equip and train our troops.
They are fed up with not having the budget to train in environments similar in scale to where they might have to fight.
They are fed up at the way retired service personnel are treated by the Ministry of Defence, for want of funds now wasted on Dartmoor empire building.
They see the use of Dartmoor as being an expensive waste of money and resources. In answer to Mr Powne, they say the field craft practised on Dartmoor could be practised at any one of a dozen ranges outside the national park. As it happens, Dartmoor Preservation Association does not oppose field craft exercises as such, only those which cause damage or which are contrary to National Park purposes.
We have a number of ex-servicemen willing to come forward to debate these matters at a fair and open public inquiry into live firing on Dartmoor. The Ministry of Defence is frightened to hold one precisely because they know that their claims to need Dartmoor can by so easily dismissed.
So come on Mr Powne, persuade the MoD to call such a public inquiry. We are ready, are they?
John Bainbridge
Chief executive
Dartmoor Preservation Association