Troops get rough deal, says Chief of Defence
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Thomas Harding again
Army crisis as number of troops leaving soars
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 3:16pm GMT 22/11/2007
The Army is facing a major shortfall in manpower after the latest figures released today showed that the number of troops leaving had increased by 50 per cent in the last year.
The difficulty in finding troops for the frontline has become evident after the Ministry of Defence admitted it was short of 4,500 soldiers - the equivalent of almost an entire brigade.
Deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the Army's resources
With most of the Army on continuous operations for the last four years in Iraq and Afghanistan the strain on soldiers and their families has been immense.
In the last two years the manning shortage of soldiers excluding officers has more than quadrupled from 1,000 to the most recent figure making the Army short of nine battalions in manpower.
The MoD's requirement for soldiers is 88,450 but yesterday the figure stood at 83,860 which includes almost 7,000 men recruited from Commonwealth countries.
More worryingly the number of people resigning from the Army has increased by 10 per cent in the last year to 12,500.
The figures come after former head of the Army Gen Sir Mike Jackson warned that the Armed Forces are facing a cash "crisis" raising doubts over whether the military will be able to pay for future operations.
Bernard Jenkin, a Tory member of the Commons Defence Committee, said the latest figures were "absolutely appalling".
"The problem of retaining soldiers in the Army is not just about very modest pay and conditions this is about the strain of operations and the stress on family life caused by long periods of separation.
"There comes a point where people feel forced to choose and the family inevitably comes first – after all, what we are fighting for is for our families and children."
Derek Twigg, the defence minister, said the MoD was "addressing manning challenges" by adjusting policies and "using long-term strategies" to recruit and retain people.
There was positive news that, perhaps attracted by media reports of fighting on the front in Afghanistan, there has been a 25-per-cent increase in young men signing up for the infantry in the last year.
But overall the Armed Forces are now lacking almost 7,000 personnel out of a total required force of 181,000.
The MoD said it hoped to improve the manning figures under its Service Personnel Plan which will take into account the demands of family life.
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 3:16pm GMT 22/11/2007
The Army is facing a major shortfall in manpower after the latest figures released today showed that the number of troops leaving had increased by 50 per cent in the last year.
The difficulty in finding troops for the frontline has become evident after the Ministry of Defence admitted it was short of 4,500 soldiers - the equivalent of almost an entire brigade.
Deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the Army's resources
With most of the Army on continuous operations for the last four years in Iraq and Afghanistan the strain on soldiers and their families has been immense.
In the last two years the manning shortage of soldiers excluding officers has more than quadrupled from 1,000 to the most recent figure making the Army short of nine battalions in manpower.
The MoD's requirement for soldiers is 88,450 but yesterday the figure stood at 83,860 which includes almost 7,000 men recruited from Commonwealth countries.
More worryingly the number of people resigning from the Army has increased by 10 per cent in the last year to 12,500.
The figures come after former head of the Army Gen Sir Mike Jackson warned that the Armed Forces are facing a cash "crisis" raising doubts over whether the military will be able to pay for future operations.
Bernard Jenkin, a Tory member of the Commons Defence Committee, said the latest figures were "absolutely appalling".
"The problem of retaining soldiers in the Army is not just about very modest pay and conditions this is about the strain of operations and the stress on family life caused by long periods of separation.
"There comes a point where people feel forced to choose and the family inevitably comes first – after all, what we are fighting for is for our families and children."
Derek Twigg, the defence minister, said the MoD was "addressing manning challenges" by adjusting policies and "using long-term strategies" to recruit and retain people.
There was positive news that, perhaps attracted by media reports of fighting on the front in Afghanistan, there has been a 25-per-cent increase in young men signing up for the infantry in the last year.
But overall the Armed Forces are now lacking almost 7,000 personnel out of a total required force of 181,000.
The MoD said it hoped to improve the manning figures under its Service Personnel Plan which will take into account the demands of family life.
