British reject career in Army seen as 'guilty by association'
Guardian: War in Iraq putting off recruits, says army
The army is facing a recruitment crisis triggered partly by its operations in Iraq, senior officers admitted yesterday. They are so concerned they are launching the first campaign in 10 years to attract young officers. "We are beginning to see the warning signs," one officer who asked not to be named said. "Once you start tipping off over the cliff, it is difficult to stop."
The shortfall in the total number of soldiers has risen by more than 300% this year to more than 2,000, according to the latest Ministry of Defence figures. Though figures do not yet show a shortage in the number of officers, they reveal that more are leaving the army early.
Army chiefs are concerned at the failure to get recruits from a variety of backgrounds. They hope the 2m pound campaign will generate up to 40,000 inquiries to fill the 2,000 places available for regular and Territorial Army officers each year.
Brigadier Andrew Jackson, commander of the Army Recruiting Group, told the Guardian: "We cannot pretend Iraq isn't a factor. It is reasonable to assume that the officer community might have thought more deeply about the wider implications of the army's role in Iraq."
The situation is more worrying, he said, given demographic trends over the next 10 years and increased competition from the private sector. The starting salary for an officer after training is 26,280 pounds.
Evidence is emerging of growing concern among army and RAF officers over the pressures they are under in Iraq. Last weekend, Captain Ken Masters, a military police officer investigating serious allegations involving British soldiers, was found dead. At the same time, it emerged that Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, a medical officer based at Kinross in Scotland, faced four charges of "disobeying a lawful command" for refusing to serve on operations in Iraq on the grounds that he believed the war was unlawful.
General Sir Michael Walker, the chief of defence staff, recently conceded that the army's ability to attract recruits was suffering because people saw the armed forces as "guilty by association" with Tony Blair's decision to invade Iraq. Read more
The army is facing a recruitment crisis triggered partly by its operations in Iraq, senior officers admitted yesterday. They are so concerned they are launching the first campaign in 10 years to attract young officers. "We are beginning to see the warning signs," one officer who asked not to be named said. "Once you start tipping off over the cliff, it is difficult to stop."
The shortfall in the total number of soldiers has risen by more than 300% this year to more than 2,000, according to the latest Ministry of Defence figures. Though figures do not yet show a shortage in the number of officers, they reveal that more are leaving the army early.
Army chiefs are concerned at the failure to get recruits from a variety of backgrounds. They hope the 2m pound campaign will generate up to 40,000 inquiries to fill the 2,000 places available for regular and Territorial Army officers each year.
Brigadier Andrew Jackson, commander of the Army Recruiting Group, told the Guardian: "We cannot pretend Iraq isn't a factor. It is reasonable to assume that the officer community might have thought more deeply about the wider implications of the army's role in Iraq."
The situation is more worrying, he said, given demographic trends over the next 10 years and increased competition from the private sector. The starting salary for an officer after training is 26,280 pounds.
Evidence is emerging of growing concern among army and RAF officers over the pressures they are under in Iraq. Last weekend, Captain Ken Masters, a military police officer investigating serious allegations involving British soldiers, was found dead. At the same time, it emerged that Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, a medical officer based at Kinross in Scotland, faced four charges of "disobeying a lawful command" for refusing to serve on operations in Iraq on the grounds that he believed the war was unlawful.
General Sir Michael Walker, the chief of defence staff, recently conceded that the army's ability to attract recruits was suffering because people saw the armed forces as "guilty by association" with Tony Blair's decision to invade Iraq. Read more
posted by exoplanet at 3:19 PM
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