At first sight the Ministry of Defence's assertion that UK
Armed Forces are at 96.9% of their (recently reduced) fulltime trained strength requirement (174,910 against a target of 180,430) doesn't sound too bad, especially as the MoD reckons that in the last 12 months there has been an 5% increase (1,030 people) in the number of new recruits compared with the same period last year.
However the MoD goes on to say that 16,990 of the 169,650 regulars are untrained; thats 10% of the UK's regular Armed Forces are currently untrained.
So what the MoD figures actually show are, yes recruitment might be on the up, but the Armed forces are failing to retain trained and experienced personnel. At a time when the requirements of military operations mean that there is an increasing need for exactly such trained and experienced troops, the Army is filling its frontline ranks with recruits straight from the training grounds (indeed there has even been talk recently that the 28 weeks standard training programme was to be halved). It should also be remembered that only three years ago the total strength of the Armed Forces stood at 188,000 - i.e. 13,000 more than today.
Armed Forces are at 96.9% of their (recently reduced) fulltime trained strength requirement (174,910 against a target of 180,430) doesn't sound too bad, especially as the MoD reckons that in the last 12 months there has been an 5% increase (1,030 people) in the number of new recruits compared with the same period last year.However the MoD goes on to say that 16,990 of the 169,650 regulars are untrained; thats 10% of the UK's regular Armed Forces are currently untrained.
So what the MoD figures actually show are, yes recruitment might be on the up, but the Armed forces are failing to retain trained and experienced personnel. At a time when the requirements of military operations mean that there is an increasing need for exactly such trained and experienced troops, the Army is filling its frontline ranks with recruits straight from the training grounds (indeed there has even been talk recently that the 28 weeks standard training programme was to be halved). It should also be remembered that only three years ago the total strength of the Armed Forces stood at 188,000 - i.e. 13,000 more than today.
Although the MoD has now started to offer inducements to stem the haemorrhaging of key personnel - for example by starting to provide decent accommodation, better equipment and acceptable healthcare - skilled troops continue to vote with their boots and quit because they are overworked, underpaid and separated from their families for so long.
Link> MoD: Armed Forces at 96.9% full time trained strength
Link> The Mail: Britain's armed forces shrink by 13,000
Link> The Sun: 20,000 Leave the Forces
Link> Loss of trained personnel means less trining for new recruits
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