On Friday, soldiers from the British Army’s Royal Anglia Regiment were training for their role in a NATO exercise scheduled to be held in Poland in March. In what is expected to be the largest demonstration in Eastern Europe in a decade, 20,000 troops from military alliances will take part in a show of anti-Russian strength.
However, due to a rift between the military and the Conservative government, Downing Street was unsure what ordinary soldiers would say and instructed that journalists who wished to participate could not be interviewed.
This week, General Patrick Saunders, the head of the army, gave a speech, which was not endorsed by Rishi Sunak or Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, in which he urged politicians to “take preparatory measures that will enable us to put our societies on a war footing.” ” urged them to take measures. He even hinted that in the event of a major war with Russia, a return to conscription might be necessary, in part because the British army was so small.
Next month marks the second anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. Despite the bellicose language and repeated statements from Britain and other Western politicians that they would support Ukraine “for as long as necessary,” at a time when Israel and events in the Red Sea are critical; The military continues to struggle with recruitment and retention. The world has become more unstable.
It was the first time a Royal Navy warship had been involved in a conflict in 20 years, and HMS Diamond targeted several Houthi drones in the Red Sea, downing an air target in combat for the first time since 1991. However, there is a shortage of sailors. Two frigates, HMS Westminster and HMS Argyle, will be mothballed from 2026 until replacements are brought in. And this week, US Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro called on Britain to reassess the size of its military.
of latest numbers Figures compiled by Labor show 5,790 people left the force on a net basis in the year to September 30, 2023. The Army and Navy have missed their recruiting goals every year since 2010. Royal Navy personnel numbers are 5% below the target set in 2015, Royal Air Force personnel are 9% below target, while the Army’s 2021 target is 73,000, its smallest size since around 1714. The figure is said to be slightly higher due to the reduction in people. National Army Museum calculations.
The reasons are complex and opinions are divided. Richard Mitchell, a former member of the Parachute Regiment, said he enlisted after the 9/11 attacks because “we couldn’t get people into the Parachute Regiment fast enough.” But the morality of recent conflicts was ambiguous, he said. “Iraq has been exposed as a big lie and Afghanistan has been exposed as a complete failure. Young people are looking back at recent history and worrying that it will happen again.”
Britain’s support for the Kyiv cause is relatively high, so there is no need for a direct British military presence in Ukraine. But the UK joined the US in saying Sunak said this week that a bombing campaign to reopen the Red Sea, where Houthi rebels supporting Yemen’s Gaza Strip are targeting commercial ships, could be expanded. The country is one of the world’s poorest countries, with nine years of civil war resulting in shortages of necessities such as food, fuel and medicine.
Other experts have highlighted concerns about the realities of military life. Nick Reynolds, a military expert at the Royal United Services Institute, said pay increases were capped at 1% from 2013 to 2018, and “military pay has stagnated relative to CPI inflation”. Salary increases over the past two years have been even higher, at 3.75%. 5% and 5%, both still below the general cost of living increase.
A significant portion of military housing is substandard. Just over a year ago, the military had to apologize for the poor condition of its accommodation, with nearly a third of the homes in need of repairs. Meanwhile, complaints of sex discrimination and harassment have been reported in the past two years across the force, from the Red Arrows to submarine crews and even civil servants in the MoD’s Whitehall headquarters.
But the most serious questions center on the hiring process. Labour’s calculations put the total shortfall since Capita took over the Army recruitment contract in 2012 at just over 23,000. In his statement, Capita said “demographic and cultural changes are posing a challenge” to whether young people find careers that could theoretically lead to early death to be attractive. mentioned concerns about.
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The company and the military have tried to overcome the hesitancy, and the 2019 “Snowflake” campaign, which coincided with the “January Blues,” proved to have some success. They are also providing additional funding to the cadet corps and branching out into schools. These initiatives have often been controversial, not only because the UK is the only country in Europe that still allows conscription at 16, but also because of the perceived military focus on school-aged people. .
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) canceled a promotional event it was hosting for the popular video game Fortnite. Players were invited to watch a live stream of his two famous gamers on a specially created military map. Despite having to be 18 years old or older, it was criticized for effectively targeting children. The MoD said: “This campaign is not aimed at children and we have taken all feedback into account.”
Labor, which sent British troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, claimed through shadow defense spokesman John Healy that “ministers have undermined the national contract with those who serve”. The study said too many staff were living in “damp and moldy housing” and morale had fallen by a third.
The Ministry of Defense said it continues to meet all operational requirements, including responding to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. A spokesperson highlighted last year’s 5% pay rise as the “biggest pay rise in over 20 years” and said there was a commitment to spend more than £4 billion on improving the benefits of staff.
Mr. Sanders is said to be relaxed about the discourse his comments have provoked. His argument was that politicians needed to lay the “foundation for national mobilization” by focusing on the potential threat posed by Russia. The problem may need to become even more acute before young Brits are ready to board the ship and stay.
