Latest figures show Army at full strength

The latest figures published by the Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) wing of the MoD show that the improvement in manning levels, which began in the late 2008, has been maintained and that the Army has actually been operating at full strength over the last quarter.

The MoD reports that the (markedly) reduced intake requirement reflects the fact that the Army is currently fully manned and can therefore cut back on new entrants.

The continued drop in the number of those leaving is also an encouraging sign as it implies that the Army is retaining more of its experienced personnel.

That the country is in the midst of the worst recession since the 1930s may also be influencing the situation.

The issue for the immediate future is of course whether the Army will be permitted to continue to operate at the 102,000 mark. Defence Secretary Liam Fox has already hinted that the Strategic Defence Review is going to hit military spending hard; he's quoted as saying that the Goverment will act "ruthlessly and without sentiment" in finding savings in the defence budget. Indeed it's already been rumoured that even Britain's elite 23 SAS Regiment is in line to be culled.

Liam Fox is hoping to play the magician: although he will be overseeing radical reductions (15% is the current consensus) in military expenditure, he also insists that eventually Britain's security would end up "stronger".

The UK is not alone in seeking significant cuts in defence expenditure: across Europe governments have started to slash their military procurement projects. One way that Dr Fox may seek to square the circle of delivering more with less is through closer co-operation within Europe. Integrated procurement programmes, shared hardware, split operational responsibilities - indeed European Military Union itself - may start to look like attractive options to a Coalition desparate to make ends meet. God help us.

MoD: Latest UK Armed Forces manning figures released

Army looking for new "digital marketing" partner

Following on from it's ambitious and innovative "Start Thinking Soldier" campaign (a visit to the ArmyJobs microsite is well worth it), the Army is now seeking an agency to help expand their digital recruitment programme.

Publicis Modem, the architects of the current campaign, will continue to take the lead in a project
which aims to bring high-tech, computer game technology into the recruitment vitual office - something that would be attractive to the X-box generation. The arcade-gaming approach was pioneered in the US where it proved very successful.

It will, however, be difficult to assess how successful the digital marketing strategy itself has actually been since it's running at a time when the recession is anyway leading to a significant increase in numbers applying to enlist.

COI: British Army seeks digital agency
MoD: Interactive campaign prompts you to Start Thinking Soldier

SAS recruitment shortfall

Whilst recruitment and retention within the Armed Forces is generally picking up, the number of soldiers applying to join the Special Air Service has dropped alarmingly - by more than a third. In a normal year there are about 150 applicants for the SAS of whom 10% are eventually successful; this year only 93 applied with only 8 getting through.

A source told the Sunday Mirror that during peacetime the SAS is seen as an atrractive option for those looking for excitment. Nowadays however with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers in regular regiments are experiencing fighting on the frontline and therefore do not need to look to the SAS for action.
The fall-off in the in-take and the recent high casualty rate are putting a strain on the Regiment and forcing Army chiefs to look at ways of improving retention - perhaps even upping the pay: who stays gains.

The Mirror: SAS recruitment crisis as applications plummet

Operation Solomon: is it still wise?

The MoD is planning a summer campaign, code named Operation Solomon, which aims to exploit the Recession and draft thousands of new recruits into the UK's Armed Forces in a bid to reverse the declining numbers of recent years.
Recruitment centres across the country are already witnessing a massive increase in applicants desperate to seek a bolt hole away from the dole queue and extra staff are already having to be taken on to deal with the surge. Inquiries at recruitment centres have doubled over the last two months to 24,500 and queues are building up at the doors.

With the obvious demand that there is to get into the Services, is it necessary for the MoD to go to the expense of staging a recruitment campaign at all? Why not just sit back, tick the boxes and put the £14million recruitment budget to better use?

You also wonder whether the motives behind many of these new recruits will sustain them through basic training. It costs a lot to bring a raw recruit up to the standards expected by today's Armed Forces (particularly as these days they also have to be taught the 3Rs) and you wonder whether there will be a reasonable return on the investment involved.

Just as the Recession is driving the unemployed towards the Colours so too it must be giving those contemplating leaving the Services second thoughts. Whereas once a skilled ex-soldier could expect to walk into a higher paid job on civvie street, today that is no longer the case. And it has been the loss of experienced, fully trained service personnel which has been so debilitating for the Armed Forces.

Would it not be wiser for the MoD to redirect Operation Soloman away from drawing in large numbers of raw recruits and towards improving Service conditions to retain those who are already beginning to have cold feet about leaving?

The Express: The Army signs up recession's jobless