LONDON (Dispatches) -- Hundreds of British
paratroopers were banned from a NATO deployment after videos surfaced of an orgy with a civilian woman in the barracks that had some soldiers watching on, according to reports.
Eight paratroopers serving in the UK’s 16 Air Assault Brigade were under police investigation over a video of them having sex with a civilian woman who had been snuck into the Merville barracks in Colchester, it was revealed earlier this month.
The woman had been snuck into the barracks as many as 31 times over the past five months, according to The Times of London.
The UK’s new head of the Army, Gen. Sir Patrick Sanders, told his generals and commanding officers in a letter he would not “risk the mission or the reputation of the British army” by sending the troops abroad, The Times reported.
Although military police ultimately determined that no crime was committed, Sanders reportedly said in the letter that the incident could have appeared to “denigrate women” and was against the army’s values.
“My message to the army is clear – our license to operate is founded on trust and confidence and we must hold ourselves to the highest standards,” Sanders wrote. He added that “such behavior is unacceptable, corrosive and detrimental to the army’s reputation,” according to The Times.
“I am not prepared to risk the NATO mission or the reputation of the British army by deploying 3 Para at this time.”
The news of the orgy follows a series of incidents during an exercise in North Macedonia in May, when several soldiers were accused “unprofessional behavior” during the drill.
The yearly deployment to the Balkans is for a 10-day drill with NATO partners, but troops usually stay for longer. More than 400 paratroopers will deploy to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, but they will be denied a medal and additional money that they are accustomed to receiving for overseas service.