ORAC
25th Feb 2002, 19:20
The Times:
RAF reservists to be called up for the home front. .By Michael Evans, Defence Editor. . . .THE Government plans to issue a second mobilisation order to the reserves to help the overstretched regular forces. This time it is the RAF that needs support.. . . .Members of the RAF Auxiliary Service are expected to be sent their first compulsory call-up papers since the 1991 Gulf War. The Ministry of Defence announced last month that up to 140 Territorial Army reservists from the Intelligence Corps were being called up to help with analysing information coming from the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
Now the RAF, which has a full strength of 53,150 personnel, has so many servicemen and women based abroad that the MoD is having to turn to the RAF Auxiliary Service to fill gaps at bases in Britain.
The Royal Auxiliary Service has 1,600 personnel, all of whom are part-timers like the TA. But there are also 17,000 former members of the RAF who remain on the reserve list.
Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, has admitted that the Armed Forces are stretched to the limit. Unless the pressure of overseas commitments eases, it seems likely that increasingly he will have to turn to the reserves.
The MoD has not decided how many part-timers from the RAF reserves will be needed, but the number is expected to be small at this stage and will not include pilots or navigators. They will be required to carry out desk jobs that have been left vacant because of the demands of overseas duties.
RAF personnel are spread out all over the world, with the biggest concentrations in the Middle East and Gulf (1,369), Afghanistan (1,009), Cyprus (1,145) and the Falklands (697).
The MoD has mobilised 70 TA members for compulsory service so far. They are all attached to 3 (Volunteer) Military Intelligence Battalion. They are expected to carry out their military duties for six months and special arrangements have had to be made with their civilian employers.
Members of the RAF Auxiliary Service are also expected to be mobilised for six months. Although most are likely to serve in Britain, it is possible that some will go overseas.
The last time that there was a large-scale compulsory mobilisation of the TA was during the Suez crisis in 1956. But 205 General Hospital, based on a Scottish TA medical unit, saw active service in the Gulf War and thousands of volunteer reservists have also served in Bosnia and Kosovo.
The need for compulsory mobilisation orders has emphasised the pressures faced by the Services. The Army is still 6,000 soldiers short of its full establishment and the RAF has a serious shortage of frontline fast-jet pilots. The manpower pressures are one of the issues being raised by the MoD officials who have begun negotiating in this year’s government spending round.
The MoD has warned the Treasury that unless there is a generous increase in the defence budget from 2003 the Services will face even further pressures. “The consequences will be serious if the budget allocation is disappointing,” one official said.
RAF reservists to be called up for the home front. .By Michael Evans, Defence Editor. . . .THE Government plans to issue a second mobilisation order to the reserves to help the overstretched regular forces. This time it is the RAF that needs support.. . . .Members of the RAF Auxiliary Service are expected to be sent their first compulsory call-up papers since the 1991 Gulf War. The Ministry of Defence announced last month that up to 140 Territorial Army reservists from the Intelligence Corps were being called up to help with analysing information coming from the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
Now the RAF, which has a full strength of 53,150 personnel, has so many servicemen and women based abroad that the MoD is having to turn to the RAF Auxiliary Service to fill gaps at bases in Britain.
The Royal Auxiliary Service has 1,600 personnel, all of whom are part-timers like the TA. But there are also 17,000 former members of the RAF who remain on the reserve list.
Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, has admitted that the Armed Forces are stretched to the limit. Unless the pressure of overseas commitments eases, it seems likely that increasingly he will have to turn to the reserves.
The MoD has not decided how many part-timers from the RAF reserves will be needed, but the number is expected to be small at this stage and will not include pilots or navigators. They will be required to carry out desk jobs that have been left vacant because of the demands of overseas duties.
RAF personnel are spread out all over the world, with the biggest concentrations in the Middle East and Gulf (1,369), Afghanistan (1,009), Cyprus (1,145) and the Falklands (697).
The MoD has mobilised 70 TA members for compulsory service so far. They are all attached to 3 (Volunteer) Military Intelligence Battalion. They are expected to carry out their military duties for six months and special arrangements have had to be made with their civilian employers.
Members of the RAF Auxiliary Service are also expected to be mobilised for six months. Although most are likely to serve in Britain, it is possible that some will go overseas.
The last time that there was a large-scale compulsory mobilisation of the TA was during the Suez crisis in 1956. But 205 General Hospital, based on a Scottish TA medical unit, saw active service in the Gulf War and thousands of volunteer reservists have also served in Bosnia and Kosovo.
The need for compulsory mobilisation orders has emphasised the pressures faced by the Services. The Army is still 6,000 soldiers short of its full establishment and the RAF has a serious shortage of frontline fast-jet pilots. The manpower pressures are one of the issues being raised by the MoD officials who have begun negotiating in this year’s government spending round.
The MoD has warned the Treasury that unless there is a generous increase in the defence budget from 2003 the Services will face even further pressures. “The consequences will be serious if the budget allocation is disappointing,” one official said.