Britain's Territorial Army
- Thread starter Jason38
- Start date
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 410
This is interesting. A few observations:
a) The TA seems to be suffering similar issues to the US Reserve component (especially the ARNG) with respect to relations with the Regular Army and the impact of extended active duty on civilian employment;
b) the TA is quoted at 39,000. This would make it considerably smaller than the UK Regular Army, which means that (contrary to the endless drum-banging of people like Res2000) Canada is not the only country whose Res is smaller than their active Army. In fact, proportionally speaking, ours may be bigger in relation to the Regular Army than the TA is to the Brit Regular Army;
c) extended active service seems to be causing recruiting problems for the TA, as I have heard it has also created for US Res components. Are the US and UK asking too much of their "traditional Reservist"? (Although the article says nothing about normal attrition and recruiting intake rates, so we have to be careful...) Is Canada far behind-are we going to "break the bank" in our Res?
These are questions, not rhetorical jabs.
Cheers
Cheers
a) The TA seems to be suffering similar issues to the US Reserve component (especially the ARNG) with respect to relations with the Regular Army and the impact of extended active duty on civilian employment;
b) the TA is quoted at 39,000. This would make it considerably smaller than the UK Regular Army, which means that (contrary to the endless drum-banging of people like Res2000) Canada is not the only country whose Res is smaller than their active Army. In fact, proportionally speaking, ours may be bigger in relation to the Regular Army than the TA is to the Brit Regular Army;
c) extended active service seems to be causing recruiting problems for the TA, as I have heard it has also created for US Res components. Are the US and UK asking too much of their "traditional Reservist"? (Although the article says nothing about normal attrition and recruiting intake rates, so we have to be careful...) Is Canada far behind-are we going to "break the bank" in our Res?
These are questions, not rhetorical jabs.
Cheers
Cheers
George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 184
- Points
- 710
I have come to the same conclusion. That may be why I think of them as not being Gen X or Gen Y or what ever Generation they may think they are.....They are all the McDonald's Generation. They want to walk in and have everything given to them on a plater, right away, not have to work for it, and get out with the money as fast as they can. It is ruining our economy. Look at all the people on Welfare, scamming the Workman's Comp system, the Health System, the Immigration System, etc. We are spiralling down the tubes.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 360
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=260962006?
Shake-up will see Territorials serving with regular army
GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN
CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT
PART-TIME soldiers are to be allowed to serve in regular army regiments for the first time as part of a radical shake-up of the military.
The reorganisation will mean that soldiers can sign up to a regiment to serve for anything from a few days a month to full-time. They will join a regular regiment as a part-timer, train with the regulars and share equipment.
Discussions have taken place at a high level about dropping the separate logos in advertising campaigns for regular and part-time or territorial army (TA) troops and recruiting for the two forces is being merged.
The shake-up runs alongside drastic cuts to the TA infantry revealed by The Scotsman on Saturday and due to be announced by John Reid, the Defence Secretary, in the next couple of weeks.
The changes are the result of years of internal debate within the army about the role of the TA, which has been used increasingly to fill the gaps left by cuts to the regular army. About 12,500 TA members have served in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003, with about 800 currently deployed, but about 13,500 have left in the same period.
The first steps towards integrating the regular army and the TA are already taking place in Scotland, where responsibility for recruiting for the new Royal Regiment of Scotland has been handed to 51 Brigade, which commands the country's TA units.
The process is known as One Army Recruiting and discussions have also taken place about running joint television adverts for the regular and territorial armies, omitting their separate logos and simply inviting potential recruits to join the army.
The MoD denies that the TA will disappear entirely, but a spokesman said that the sentiments behind a merger with the regular army reflected the long- term aims of the military.
"It is a natural progression," he said. "This process is something that will happen incrementally over several years."
The spokesman said that details had not previously been disclosed because the plan was still being worked on.
"It is not a merger. The TA is being changed and reshaped to make it more effective," he said.
The plan will appeal to some in the army who are keen to make greater use of the TA's part-timers and integrate them into the regular army's operations.
"Recruiters will be looking to see what best suits the individual," the spokesman said. "We want them for the regular army but many people dip their toe in the water with the TA. If you say you want to join part-time, that will be possible.
"There will be very few closures - one regiment will disappear and three centres are closing. There will be some other changes and apparent loss of a name. Anyone who wants to remain in the TA can. It is up to individuals to decide which way they want to go."
He pledged that there would be no compulsory redundancies but that some TA members would have to accept that they would have to move if they wanted to remain in the role for which they had signed up.
"We are trying to balance the TA so it fulfils the needs of today's army and that does mean some change," he said.
The MoD wants to take advantage of the skills of specialists in areas such as engineering and medicine and hopes that the idea of being able to participate in military deployments without having to commit full-time to the army will appeal to younger recruits.
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=254512006?
Government targets Territorials in new round of army cuts
GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN
CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT
THE government is set to announce another round of drastic cuts to Britain's over-stretched infantry as part of a radical shake-up of the Territorial Army, The Scotsman has learned.
At least one territorial infantry regiment is to be axed and three centres will be closed as part of the changes to be announced by John Reid, the Defence Secretary, within the next two weeks.
Historic regimental names will disappear as the TA units are amalgamated into the new super-regiments that the government has deemed essential to the overall restructuring of the British Army.
In Scotland, that will mean that the Lowland and Highland regiments become the 6th and 7th battalions respectively of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The plans, which will effectively see the part-time force merge into the regular army, is set to be every bit as controversial as the recent loss of four regular infantry battalions and the amalgamation of the Scottish regiments.
Many soldiers who signed up to serve as part-time infantry will find that their role has been abolished. Instead, the MoD intends to try to persuade them to take on new tasks to fill the gaping holes in its ranks of specialists left by previous defence cuts.
The timing could hardly be worse, with the infantry already pared down to the minimum required for operations and British troops committed indefinitely to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Reid recently revealed that gaps between deployments for regular infantry units had shrunk to 21 months from the recommended 24 months.
Mr Reid is expected to announce the closure of a number of TA centres, leaving volunteers facing long journeys to training sessions if they want to remain in uniform. Many are expected to quit.
Yesterday Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said he could not understand how the government thought it could cut budgets while increasing the demands on the army.
"At a time when the services are already overstretched, to be reducing the infantry does seem to be counter-productive," he said. "The government keeps increasing the number of commitments but there has been an overall reduction in the armed forces and reductions in the proportion of GDP spent on them. How the government can consider reductions in size seems baffling, to say the least."
Jeff Duncan, spokesman for the Save the Scottish Regiments campaign, accused the government of undermining the morale, history and recruitment of the TA. "Now it is the turn of the TA to suffer the same disgraceful and humiliating treatment that has been dished out to the Scottish regiments," he said.
The army is acutely conscious that the moves will be controversial. A spokesman for HQ Land Command, which is tasked with delivering and sustaining the army's operational capability, said:
"There will be an overall change in infantry numbers. They may attract some criticism, but you have to leave it to the army. We have looked at it long and hard. There has been an 18-month consultation exercise finding the best way forward."
The infantry is already stretched to the limits and has relied heavily on the TA to make up the numbers in Iraq, with about 11,500 soldiers deployed since the start of the war in 2003.
Officers and senior NCOs say that they have integrated well and have done much to rid themselves of the "weekend warriors" tag.
But the additional demands on its members have taken their toll on retention figures and about 13,500 have resigned in the same period.
Some have expressed concern about the length of deployments - up to nine months in some cases once training is included - and there have been problems with unsympathetic employers who have refused to keep jobs open for those who volunteer for duty.
Shake-up will see Territorials serving with regular army
GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN
CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT
PART-TIME soldiers are to be allowed to serve in regular army regiments for the first time as part of a radical shake-up of the military.
The reorganisation will mean that soldiers can sign up to a regiment to serve for anything from a few days a month to full-time. They will join a regular regiment as a part-timer, train with the regulars and share equipment.
Discussions have taken place at a high level about dropping the separate logos in advertising campaigns for regular and part-time or territorial army (TA) troops and recruiting for the two forces is being merged.
The shake-up runs alongside drastic cuts to the TA infantry revealed by The Scotsman on Saturday and due to be announced by John Reid, the Defence Secretary, in the next couple of weeks.
The changes are the result of years of internal debate within the army about the role of the TA, which has been used increasingly to fill the gaps left by cuts to the regular army. About 12,500 TA members have served in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003, with about 800 currently deployed, but about 13,500 have left in the same period.
The first steps towards integrating the regular army and the TA are already taking place in Scotland, where responsibility for recruiting for the new Royal Regiment of Scotland has been handed to 51 Brigade, which commands the country's TA units.
The process is known as One Army Recruiting and discussions have also taken place about running joint television adverts for the regular and territorial armies, omitting their separate logos and simply inviting potential recruits to join the army.
The MoD denies that the TA will disappear entirely, but a spokesman said that the sentiments behind a merger with the regular army reflected the long- term aims of the military.
"It is a natural progression," he said. "This process is something that will happen incrementally over several years."
The spokesman said that details had not previously been disclosed because the plan was still being worked on.
"It is not a merger. The TA is being changed and reshaped to make it more effective," he said.
The plan will appeal to some in the army who are keen to make greater use of the TA's part-timers and integrate them into the regular army's operations.
"Recruiters will be looking to see what best suits the individual," the spokesman said. "We want them for the regular army but many people dip their toe in the water with the TA. If you say you want to join part-time, that will be possible.
"There will be very few closures - one regiment will disappear and three centres are closing. There will be some other changes and apparent loss of a name. Anyone who wants to remain in the TA can. It is up to individuals to decide which way they want to go."
He pledged that there would be no compulsory redundancies but that some TA members would have to accept that they would have to move if they wanted to remain in the role for which they had signed up.
"We are trying to balance the TA so it fulfils the needs of today's army and that does mean some change," he said.
The MoD wants to take advantage of the skills of specialists in areas such as engineering and medicine and hopes that the idea of being able to participate in military deployments without having to commit full-time to the army will appeal to younger recruits.
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=254512006?
Government targets Territorials in new round of army cuts
GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN
CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT
THE government is set to announce another round of drastic cuts to Britain's over-stretched infantry as part of a radical shake-up of the Territorial Army, The Scotsman has learned.
At least one territorial infantry regiment is to be axed and three centres will be closed as part of the changes to be announced by John Reid, the Defence Secretary, within the next two weeks.
Historic regimental names will disappear as the TA units are amalgamated into the new super-regiments that the government has deemed essential to the overall restructuring of the British Army.
In Scotland, that will mean that the Lowland and Highland regiments become the 6th and 7th battalions respectively of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The plans, which will effectively see the part-time force merge into the regular army, is set to be every bit as controversial as the recent loss of four regular infantry battalions and the amalgamation of the Scottish regiments.
Many soldiers who signed up to serve as part-time infantry will find that their role has been abolished. Instead, the MoD intends to try to persuade them to take on new tasks to fill the gaping holes in its ranks of specialists left by previous defence cuts.
The timing could hardly be worse, with the infantry already pared down to the minimum required for operations and British troops committed indefinitely to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Reid recently revealed that gaps between deployments for regular infantry units had shrunk to 21 months from the recommended 24 months.
Mr Reid is expected to announce the closure of a number of TA centres, leaving volunteers facing long journeys to training sessions if they want to remain in uniform. Many are expected to quit.
Yesterday Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said he could not understand how the government thought it could cut budgets while increasing the demands on the army.
"At a time when the services are already overstretched, to be reducing the infantry does seem to be counter-productive," he said. "The government keeps increasing the number of commitments but there has been an overall reduction in the armed forces and reductions in the proportion of GDP spent on them. How the government can consider reductions in size seems baffling, to say the least."
Jeff Duncan, spokesman for the Save the Scottish Regiments campaign, accused the government of undermining the morale, history and recruitment of the TA. "Now it is the turn of the TA to suffer the same disgraceful and humiliating treatment that has been dished out to the Scottish regiments," he said.
The army is acutely conscious that the moves will be controversial. A spokesman for HQ Land Command, which is tasked with delivering and sustaining the army's operational capability, said:
"There will be an overall change in infantry numbers. They may attract some criticism, but you have to leave it to the army. We have looked at it long and hard. There has been an 18-month consultation exercise finding the best way forward."
The infantry is already stretched to the limits and has relied heavily on the TA to make up the numbers in Iraq, with about 11,500 soldiers deployed since the start of the war in 2003.
Officers and senior NCOs say that they have integrated well and have done much to rid themselves of the "weekend warriors" tag.
But the additional demands on its members have taken their toll on retention figures and about 13,500 have resigned in the same period.
Some have expressed concern about the length of deployments - up to nine months in some cases once training is included - and there have been problems with unsympathetic employers who have refused to keep jobs open for those who volunteer for duty.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 360
More changes in store!
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/RebalancingWillMakeTaMoreRelevantAndCapable.htm
Rebalancing will make TA more relevant and capable
23 Mar 06
Plans to make the Territorial Army (TA) more capable and relevant to future operations were announced today by Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram.
The changes will give the TA a clearer role, more support and, by bringing the structure and roles of the TA closer to those of the regular Army, make it a more integral part of the UK’s defence forces. The changes form part of a broader Army restructuring, under the Future Army Structure (FAS) initiative, which will allow the Army to deploy more rapidly though the creation of new medium-sized fighting units. The new structure requires an Army in which Regular and Reserve elements are more closely linked than ever before.
The changes will give the TA:
enhanced training opportunities - TA units will work more closely with their Regular counterparts making it easier for TA soldiers to integrate when they are mobilised;
over 1600 more Engineers, 400 more ‘Yeomanry’ (Royal Armoured Corps), 400 more Army Air Corps and more Intelligence Corps and other supporting services;
fewer infantry (910), signallers (120), logisticians (220) and volunteer Army Medical Corps (1600), however it is expected most will change role and very few will need or want to leave;
increased support for TA recruits, with more full-time staff responsible for administration, welfare, training and employer support;
the formation of five new regiments; and
no change in the overall size of the TA, nor to its budget.
Mr Ingram said:
"The Territorial Army has provided nearly a hundred years of excellent support to the nation. It has changed for the better over time and is unrecognisable from Cold War days. We said the TA should be the reserve of choice for peacekeeping and crisis management world-wide, and they have responded magnificently to that. The changes I am announcing today will fit the Territorial Army even better for the security challenges of the 21st Century."
"I welcome these changes wholeheartedly. They show that the TA is a modern force, with a serious role in the nation’s security."
General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff
General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, added:
"The new structures will give TA soldiers the opportunity to learn new skills in new areas, as well as leading to a Territorial Army even better equipped to work with the Regular Army. I welcome these changes wholeheartedly. They show that the TA is a modern force, with a serious role in the nation’s security."
The TA infantry will be reorganised to form 14 TA infantry battalions as an integral part of the Future Infantry Structure. TA battalions will now be named after the regular Regiments of which they will form a part, rather than after the regions in which they are based.
Three TA centres (out of around 350) will revert to Cadet centres, but any displaced personnel will be offered the chance of transferring to other units. No member of the TA will see their service compulsorily terminated. The changes will take place over a number of years.
In 1998, the TA experienced radical reforms under the Strategic Defence Review. These reforms were designed to adapt the TA to the demands of peacekeeping and other overseas deployments in the post Cold-War world. Details of radical modernisation plans to develop a more deployable, agile and flexible Army were announced by the Defence Secretary on 16 December 2004.
TA units will work more closely with their Regular counterparts. Each TA unit will be affiliated with two Regular units; a primary affiliation with a unit that it is expected to join on operations, and a secondary affiliation with a unit with whom it will work for routine training. Training with Regular counterparts will make it easier for TA soldiers to integrate when they are mobilised.
The new TA Regiments to be formed are:
an Army Air Corps regiment to support the Apache Attack Helicopter regiments in the regular army;
an Engineer Regiment in the North East;
a TA Military Intelligence battalion, also in the North East;
a new Transport Regiment, in the South West;
a new Supply Regiment, based in Stoke on Trent; and
the TA Media Operations Group will expand to become an all-ranks unit, better placed to support operations worldwide.
The changes will not all take place immediately, but over a number of years. The establishment size of the TA will remain at around 42,000. The current TA establishment size is 41,914. TA Manning is at around 82 per cent. The changes announced are expected to ensure that the recovery we have seen over the past few months will continue.
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/RebalancingWillMakeTaMoreRelevantAndCapable.htm
Rebalancing will make TA more relevant and capable
23 Mar 06
Plans to make the Territorial Army (TA) more capable and relevant to future operations were announced today by Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram.
The changes will give the TA a clearer role, more support and, by bringing the structure and roles of the TA closer to those of the regular Army, make it a more integral part of the UK’s defence forces. The changes form part of a broader Army restructuring, under the Future Army Structure (FAS) initiative, which will allow the Army to deploy more rapidly though the creation of new medium-sized fighting units. The new structure requires an Army in which Regular and Reserve elements are more closely linked than ever before.
The changes will give the TA:
enhanced training opportunities - TA units will work more closely with their Regular counterparts making it easier for TA soldiers to integrate when they are mobilised;
over 1600 more Engineers, 400 more ‘Yeomanry’ (Royal Armoured Corps), 400 more Army Air Corps and more Intelligence Corps and other supporting services;
fewer infantry (910), signallers (120), logisticians (220) and volunteer Army Medical Corps (1600), however it is expected most will change role and very few will need or want to leave;
increased support for TA recruits, with more full-time staff responsible for administration, welfare, training and employer support;
the formation of five new regiments; and
no change in the overall size of the TA, nor to its budget.
Mr Ingram said:
"The Territorial Army has provided nearly a hundred years of excellent support to the nation. It has changed for the better over time and is unrecognisable from Cold War days. We said the TA should be the reserve of choice for peacekeeping and crisis management world-wide, and they have responded magnificently to that. The changes I am announcing today will fit the Territorial Army even better for the security challenges of the 21st Century."
"I welcome these changes wholeheartedly. They show that the TA is a modern force, with a serious role in the nation’s security."
General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff
General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, added:
"The new structures will give TA soldiers the opportunity to learn new skills in new areas, as well as leading to a Territorial Army even better equipped to work with the Regular Army. I welcome these changes wholeheartedly. They show that the TA is a modern force, with a serious role in the nation’s security."
The TA infantry will be reorganised to form 14 TA infantry battalions as an integral part of the Future Infantry Structure. TA battalions will now be named after the regular Regiments of which they will form a part, rather than after the regions in which they are based.
Three TA centres (out of around 350) will revert to Cadet centres, but any displaced personnel will be offered the chance of transferring to other units. No member of the TA will see their service compulsorily terminated. The changes will take place over a number of years.
In 1998, the TA experienced radical reforms under the Strategic Defence Review. These reforms were designed to adapt the TA to the demands of peacekeeping and other overseas deployments in the post Cold-War world. Details of radical modernisation plans to develop a more deployable, agile and flexible Army were announced by the Defence Secretary on 16 December 2004.
TA units will work more closely with their Regular counterparts. Each TA unit will be affiliated with two Regular units; a primary affiliation with a unit that it is expected to join on operations, and a secondary affiliation with a unit with whom it will work for routine training. Training with Regular counterparts will make it easier for TA soldiers to integrate when they are mobilised.
The new TA Regiments to be formed are:
an Army Air Corps regiment to support the Apache Attack Helicopter regiments in the regular army;
an Engineer Regiment in the North East;
a TA Military Intelligence battalion, also in the North East;
a new Transport Regiment, in the South West;
a new Supply Regiment, based in Stoke on Trent; and
the TA Media Operations Group will expand to become an all-ranks unit, better placed to support operations worldwide.
The changes will not all take place immediately, but over a number of years. The establishment size of the TA will remain at around 42,000. The current TA establishment size is 41,914. TA Manning is at around 82 per cent. The changes announced are expected to ensure that the recovery we have seen over the past few months will continue.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 360
More cuts to satisfy the bean counters. 
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 110
Shared in accordance with .....
Link
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6868921.ece
10 October 2009
The Territorial Army has been told to stop training for six months to save millions of pounds from the Army’s budget because of growing financial pressure on the Ministry of Defence.
Drill-hall instruction, weekend exercises and all other training associated with the TA will stop, cutting costs by about £20 million.
The Land Force budget of the Army has been cut by £54 million, and the TA is the first to be affected. The huge cut in TA spending will mean that the weekend warriors will not be paid. “They are paid to go training, and if there is no training, they won’t get paid,” a Ministry of Defence official said.
A spokesman insisted that the savings and the ban on training would not affect the TA’s operational contribution to Afghanistan, where about 500 Territorial soldiers are serving. There are also ten TA soldiers in Iraq.
The spokesman said that TA training for Afghanistan would carry on as normal. TA soldiers train with their regular army counterparts, before deployment to Helmand province. The MoD’s pledge to keep the operational TA safe from cuts was, however, greeted with scepticism by senior officers in the volunteer reserve force. “This is dangerous. When you cancel training at one end, it is bound to have an impact through the TA, especially if this goes on longer than six months,” one senior TA officer told The Times. “If the MoD shuts the whole place down and says, ‘Come back in April’, there will be a number of TA members who will just go off and find something else to do, and all the skills they have learnt will fatigue.”
That would have repercussions throughout the TA, and could eventually affect the availability of volunteers for Afghanistan and other operations, he said.
One MoD official said that care would have to be taken to ensure that the temporary suspension of training did not undermine the TA’s role in Afghanistan. The official also said that, given the budget restrictions, the training suspension could last longer. The annual budget for the TA is about £143 million. The TA officer said: “This decision means that people’s advancement and promotion within the TA will be arrested, and the MoD will find it cannot get recruits to join the TA if the whole thing is being put in mothballs. You cannot suspend training and expect people to come back as normal six months later.
“The decision is tragic and dangerous, especially when you look at the contributions made by the TA to both Iraq and Afghanistan in the last six years. The regular Army could not have done these operations without the TA. People will feel undervalued and not properly respected and they’ll just go off.”
Another former senior officer in the TA said: “Here we go again, cutting back the TA.”
The size of the TA has fallen rapidly since Labour came to power in 1997. The following year there were 57,620 in the TA. Today the Territorials, trained and untrained, should be about 39,000-strong, but the trained strength is only 19,300, according to the latest MoD figures.
The senior TA officer told The Times that the downward spiral in numbers was shocking and reflected the dangerous neglect of this part of the services. In 2003, 9,500 reservists, the vast majority from the TA, were mobilised to take part in Operation Telic, the campaign in Iraq. About 1,200 members of the TA continue to be deployed annually on tours of duty.
The trend in recent years has been to pare down the TA and integrate them more into the regular Army, preparing them for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. An MoD spokesman said: “These are challenging times and, like all government departments, we have to live within our means. We routinely review spending to balance priorities, focusing on the highest priorities, including on our operations, particularly in Afghanistan.”
Link
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6868921.ece
10 October 2009
The Territorial Army has been told to stop training for six months to save millions of pounds from the Army’s budget because of growing financial pressure on the Ministry of Defence.
Drill-hall instruction, weekend exercises and all other training associated with the TA will stop, cutting costs by about £20 million.
The Land Force budget of the Army has been cut by £54 million, and the TA is the first to be affected. The huge cut in TA spending will mean that the weekend warriors will not be paid. “They are paid to go training, and if there is no training, they won’t get paid,” a Ministry of Defence official said.
A spokesman insisted that the savings and the ban on training would not affect the TA’s operational contribution to Afghanistan, where about 500 Territorial soldiers are serving. There are also ten TA soldiers in Iraq.
The spokesman said that TA training for Afghanistan would carry on as normal. TA soldiers train with their regular army counterparts, before deployment to Helmand province. The MoD’s pledge to keep the operational TA safe from cuts was, however, greeted with scepticism by senior officers in the volunteer reserve force. “This is dangerous. When you cancel training at one end, it is bound to have an impact through the TA, especially if this goes on longer than six months,” one senior TA officer told The Times. “If the MoD shuts the whole place down and says, ‘Come back in April’, there will be a number of TA members who will just go off and find something else to do, and all the skills they have learnt will fatigue.”
That would have repercussions throughout the TA, and could eventually affect the availability of volunteers for Afghanistan and other operations, he said.
One MoD official said that care would have to be taken to ensure that the temporary suspension of training did not undermine the TA’s role in Afghanistan. The official also said that, given the budget restrictions, the training suspension could last longer. The annual budget for the TA is about £143 million. The TA officer said: “This decision means that people’s advancement and promotion within the TA will be arrested, and the MoD will find it cannot get recruits to join the TA if the whole thing is being put in mothballs. You cannot suspend training and expect people to come back as normal six months later.
“The decision is tragic and dangerous, especially when you look at the contributions made by the TA to both Iraq and Afghanistan in the last six years. The regular Army could not have done these operations without the TA. People will feel undervalued and not properly respected and they’ll just go off.”
Another former senior officer in the TA said: “Here we go again, cutting back the TA.”
The size of the TA has fallen rapidly since Labour came to power in 1997. The following year there were 57,620 in the TA. Today the Territorials, trained and untrained, should be about 39,000-strong, but the trained strength is only 19,300, according to the latest MoD figures.
The senior TA officer told The Times that the downward spiral in numbers was shocking and reflected the dangerous neglect of this part of the services. In 2003, 9,500 reservists, the vast majority from the TA, were mobilised to take part in Operation Telic, the campaign in Iraq. About 1,200 members of the TA continue to be deployed annually on tours of duty.
The trend in recent years has been to pare down the TA and integrate them more into the regular Army, preparing them for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. An MoD spokesman said: “These are challenging times and, like all government departments, we have to live within our means. We routinely review spending to balance priorities, focusing on the highest priorities, including on our operations, particularly in Afghanistan.”
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 160
Something doesn't add ap here. The TA provided 9,500 troops at the time of the Iraq invasion and still provides 1,200 annually.
The UK defence dudget it about 35 billion pounds or $ 59 billion CDN. They are going to save 20million/35billion or 1/18 of 1%. A guess is that 20 million pounds is at the low end of the cost of a single battalion of infantry in garrison and they have about 50.
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/Organisation/KeyFactsAboutDefence/DefenceSpending.htm
The UK defence dudget it about 35 billion pounds or $ 59 billion CDN. They are going to save 20million/35billion or 1/18 of 1%. A guess is that 20 million pounds is at the low end of the cost of a single battalion of infantry in garrison and they have about 50.
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/Organisation/KeyFactsAboutDefence/DefenceSpending.htm
George Wallace
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
- 184
- Points
- 710
This is the shortsighted philosophy that most Western nations are facing. In the article it states that TA soldiers deploying will still be funded fully, etc. but the rest of the TA training will be drastically cut.
That may be a short term solution that will last only until tomorrow. The TA is being used as a pool of trained pers to deploy on operations. Those pers will still be fully funded if they are in that "Deployment Pool". What about the TA pers who are not in that "Deployment Pool" and how will they maintain any training standards to be kept up to standard to be in the pool from which the "Deployment Pool" is being drawn from? Then again, where will the pool of pers in Basic Training come from to fill the Trades training Pool, that supplies the pool of trained soldiers from which the "Deployment Pool" is being drawn/selected from?
Anyone in Canada, who has served during the days of FRP, the closure of the Cornwallis Recruit School, the loss of a full CMBG and an Air Wing or two, recognizes this as a stupid move, that will cascade down through the years and have devastating affects on the military as a whole.
That may be a short term solution that will last only until tomorrow. The TA is being used as a pool of trained pers to deploy on operations. Those pers will still be fully funded if they are in that "Deployment Pool". What about the TA pers who are not in that "Deployment Pool" and how will they maintain any training standards to be kept up to standard to be in the pool from which the "Deployment Pool" is being drawn from? Then again, where will the pool of pers in Basic Training come from to fill the Trades training Pool, that supplies the pool of trained soldiers from which the "Deployment Pool" is being drawn/selected from?
Anyone in Canada, who has served during the days of FRP, the closure of the Cornwallis Recruit School, the loss of a full CMBG and an Air Wing or two, recognizes this as a stupid move, that will cascade down through the years and have devastating affects on the military as a whole.
Similar threads
