The Army

englishman abroad

englishman abroad

Striker
Combat units 40% under strength according to the Guardian

Added to shortage of ships in the Royal Navy
Shortage of strike aircraft in the RAF

Good job the tories are the party you can rely on to maintain military strength.

www.theguardian.com

UK army combat units 40% below strength as recruitment plummets

Defence secretary Ben Wallace urged to turn ‘shocking trend’ around as matter of urgency
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Love to read the thoughts of the ex military lads who get on here
 
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englishman abroad said:
Combat units 40% under strength according to the Guardian

Added to shortage of ships in the Royal Navy
Shortage of strike aircraft in the RAF

Good job the tories are the party you can rely on to maintain military strength.

www.theguardian.com

UK army combat units 40% below strength as recruitment plummets

Defence secretary Ben Wallace urged to turn ‘shocking trend’ around as matter of urgency
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Love to read the thoughts of the ex military lads who get on here
Click to expand...
Sure @niceonemarra is a RAF fighter pilot mate. His thoughts* might be interesting










*fantasies*
 
A lot of the perks that used to compensate for the relatively low wage have gone, as have a lot of the attractive postings. Plus we all know how dangerous the job is now.

The forces in general as a job is at odds with the modern culture of self above all. It requires a level of application and self discipline that most kids these days run a mile from.
 
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The Exile said:
A lot of the perks that used to compensate for the relatively low wage have gone, as have a lot of the attractive postings. Plus we all know how dangerous the job is now.

The forces in general as a job is at odds with the modern culture of self above all. It requires a level of application and self discipline that most kids these days run a mile from.
Click to expand...
Load of bollocks
 
englishman abroad said:
Combat units 40% under strength according to the Guardian

Added to shortage of ships in the Royal Navy
Shortage of strike aircraft in the RAF

Good job the tories are the party you can rely on to maintain military strength.

www.theguardian.com

UK army combat units 40% below strength as recruitment plummets

Defence secretary Ben Wallace urged to turn ‘shocking trend’ around as matter of urgency
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Love to read the thoughts of the ex military lads who get on here
Click to expand...

Under strength against what exactly ? They are largely not here anyway ? What's the threat buster ?
 
Loosen the zero drugs policy for school leavers joining up, dont know how many were with me at afc harrogate that got kicked out for failing drugs test then regretted it a few yrs later, or failing that up the joining age to 18, i did 16 month n failed cdt as i was young and stupid, given the same chance at 18 or older i would of took it more serious, i also think that giving people in trouble the choice of army instead of jail (depending on type of crime of course) would benefit the forces as those types of people might thrive in that job but may have never thought of joining unless given the choice
 
SAFCOldie said:
Under strength against what exactly ? They are largely not here anyway ? What's the threat buster ?
Click to expand...
I think 30,000 British troops were deployed against the Iraqi's in the Gulf War, that was a depleted conscripted army, if Trump and Bozo get us into a shooting war with Iran there's your starter. Ireland will likely kick off again after a hard brexit, there's another 12,000 troops required.
The good news is no threat from Russia though
If the Labour Party had depleted the armed forces like this the Tory press would be calling it traitorous
 
I joined my local regiment, 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars (now amalgamated to become The Light Dragoons) in 1975 when the world was simple. The Commies thought NATO would invade East Germany, NATO expected 3 Shock Army to take a day trip to the Channel. Everything was perfectly balanced and as long as nobody hit the nuclear trigger (don't read this if you're of a nervous disposition. See also Deutschland 83) and we grew tall and proud in the shadow of a mushroom cloud.

I left in 89 (The Wall came down weeks later and it all turned to sh¡t). Then, if asked if i/ my son should join up, I'd say they'd only regret it in later life of they didnt. Now, I'll hold my tongue
 
The Exile said:
A lot of the perks that used to compensate for the relatively low wage have gone, as have a lot of the attractive postings. Plus we all know how dangerous the job is now.

The forces in general as a job is at odds with the modern culture of self above all. It requires a level of application and self discipline that most kids these days run a mile from.
Click to expand...
The low wage is a bit of a myth, especially as a lot of roles need very little academic attainment.

I know several ex forces who agree.

I do agree it is modern society problems that lead to recruitment problems. Young people don't like being told what to do, using their legs to get places or getting up early.
 
Hull_Mackem said:
The low wage is a bit of a myth, especially as a lot of roles need very little academic attainment.

I know several ex forces who agree.

I do agree it is modern society problems that lead to recruitment problems. Young people don't like being told what to do, using their legs to get places or getting up early.
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I think the starting wage is decent for young lads. When you get into JNCO/SNCO range the discrepancy between doing similar jobs gets bigger. In my trade it's tricky to switch because we don't get civil certification so I would have to do a couple of years on the training wage, which isn't doable for most lads and lasses with houses and families. Apparently though the civvies are losing all their grumpy old men to retirement, so they need more slightly younger grumpy men to replace them than they can recruit, which is where I come in ;)
 
It was always gonna happen.
There was so much changing, tours were drying up, they changed the promotion system, they changed the pension, they stopped the pay rise, they cut back on training exercises
They contracted out a lot of the work (chefs, transport, training) The cook houses became a money making scheme.


One of the main reasons I left was because they changed my pension. I signed up and was offered a pension after my 22 years. 14 years in and they decided to change that. Regardless of the time served the pension wasn’t gonna be given until I was 65.
I was only 9 years away from reaching my pension so being paid less than my civilian counter parts was ok in my mind because I was so close to getting my reward. To then have it taken away from me was insulting.
 
safcforever said:
It was always gonna happen.
There was so much changing, tours were drying up, they changed the promotion system, they changed the pension, they stopped the pay rise, they cut back on training exercises
They contracted out a lot of the work (chefs, transport, training) The cook houses became a money making scheme.


One of the main reasons I left was because they changed my pension. I signed up and was offered a pension after my 22 years. 14 years in and they decided to change that. Regardless of the time served the pension wasn’t gonna be given until I was 65.
I was only 9 years away from reaching my pension so being paid less than my civilian counter parts was ok in my mind because I was so close to getting my reward. To then have it taken away from me was insulting.
Click to expand...
Are the wages that much less (genuine question as I don't know)? They would have to be significantly less to justify potentially paying out to people in their early 40s.

Are you sure it was 65 too? I would have thought your occupational pension could be taken no later than 60?
 

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