TA Manning Crisis
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TA Manning Crisis
The Times: War blamed as 6,000 quit Territorial Army
THE Territorial Army (TA) is suffering a manning crisis with more than 6,000 soldiers quitting in the past year because of the war in Iraq. A £3m television advertising campaign has flopped, bringing in fewer than 600 recruits, and, at 35,000, the strength of the TA has dropped to its lowest point since it was founded in 1907. This is more than 6,000 below its required strength of 41,610.
Ministers admit the real figures are even worse — only 24,000 troops are fully trained and in practice only 12,000 TA soldiers are now available to back up the regular army on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.
The Ministry of Defence has repeatedly denied that the TA was in trouble as a result of Iraq, but the figures released to parliament last week show the situation is far worse than previously claimed. Don Touhig, a junior defence minister, told MPs in a series of answers to written questions that the numbers of soldiers leaving the TA had more than quadrupled in the immediate aftermath of the Iraq war in 2003.
Before the invasion the numbers leaving were steady at about 150 a month, keeping the strength of the TA relatively stable, but as soldiers started coming back from the war in October 2003 they began to leave in droves. Over the next six months, the numbers leaving quadrupled to more than 600 a month and although the figure has dropped slightly since, it is still running at an average of 540, well over three times the pre-war figures.
The Iraq war also necessitated the first compulsory call-up of reservists from all three services since the Korean war in the 1950s with 12,580 mobilised and five reservists among the 97 killed so far........
THE Territorial Army (TA) is suffering a manning crisis with more than 6,000 soldiers quitting in the past year because of the war in Iraq. A £3m television advertising campaign has flopped, bringing in fewer than 600 recruits, and, at 35,000, the strength of the TA has dropped to its lowest point since it was founded in 1907. This is more than 6,000 below its required strength of 41,610.
Ministers admit the real figures are even worse — only 24,000 troops are fully trained and in practice only 12,000 TA soldiers are now available to back up the regular army on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.
The Ministry of Defence has repeatedly denied that the TA was in trouble as a result of Iraq, but the figures released to parliament last week show the situation is far worse than previously claimed. Don Touhig, a junior defence minister, told MPs in a series of answers to written questions that the numbers of soldiers leaving the TA had more than quadrupled in the immediate aftermath of the Iraq war in 2003.
Before the invasion the numbers leaving were steady at about 150 a month, keeping the strength of the TA relatively stable, but as soldiers started coming back from the war in October 2003 they began to leave in droves. Over the next six months, the numbers leaving quadrupled to more than 600 a month and although the figure has dropped slightly since, it is still running at an average of 540, well over three times the pre-war figures.
The Iraq war also necessitated the first compulsory call-up of reservists from all three services since the Korean war in the 1950s with 12,580 mobilised and five reservists among the 97 killed so far........
Did my time (16 years) as a reservist, been out for a couple of years now.
During that time, my former unit was mobilised, in whole or part, 4 times - the last 3 of those coming in a 4 year approx timeframe (Balkans, Afghanistan, GW2). Rumour has it that the brown envelopes will be in the mail again next year as the UK takes the lead in Afghanistan.
Even the most dedicated of Reservists could find it hard to hold down a civilian job/career, family/home life in the face of that level of activity.
No surprise at all to me to hear this. At the end of the day, a reservists first priority has to be to the job that pays the mortgage.
During that time, my former unit was mobilised, in whole or part, 4 times - the last 3 of those coming in a 4 year approx timeframe (Balkans, Afghanistan, GW2). Rumour has it that the brown envelopes will be in the mail again next year as the UK takes the lead in Afghanistan.
Even the most dedicated of Reservists could find it hard to hold down a civilian job/career, family/home life in the face of that level of activity.
No surprise at all to me to hear this. At the end of the day, a reservists first priority has to be to the job that pays the mortgage.
Join Date: Jun 2005
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Desperate MoD offers soldiers £500 incentive to recruit mates
The Telegraph
"Soldiers who persuade friends to join the infantry will be paid a £500 bounty as part of an emergency campaign to halt a catastrophic decline in recruiting. The campaign will be launched during a six-week period over Christmas in an attempt to help to halt the growing recruitment crisis.
A Ministry of Defence document obtained by this newspaper has revealed that the infantry is facing one of its worst recruiting crises - less than half the number of recruits needed will join this year..........."
The Telegraph
"Soldiers who persuade friends to join the infantry will be paid a £500 bounty as part of an emergency campaign to halt a catastrophic decline in recruiting. The campaign will be launched during a six-week period over Christmas in an attempt to help to halt the growing recruitment crisis.
A Ministry of Defence document obtained by this newspaper has revealed that the infantry is facing one of its worst recruiting crises - less than half the number of recruits needed will join this year..........."
