number of MoD civil servants outnumbers the RAF and RN put together.
That does not suprise me - tail gets bigger, dog gets smaller.
The first quote is correct and the second quote misguided.
Thanks to Wrathmonk for posting the link to the DASA figures; they show that there are 29,650 CS working directly for the RN, Army and RAF. They are doing the jobs, on stations and shore establishments, that not so long ago were being carried out by uniformed personnel, at half the capitation rate. You may have noticed the preponderance of civvies in gen office, clothing stores, Supply Sqn etc For the RAF at least that's 8560 posts they don't have to worry about recruiting for, and supply expensive kit, accomodation, and medical services to.
Given the remote location of most military units, RAF in particular, they get very highly qualified applicants when a civilian vacancy is advertised. The next transaction you carry out at one of the above mentioned sections might well be with an honours graduate!
So, do you want a civvy tail or a military tail?
R