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| Britain |
| Officers quit army in record numbers |
| 2007-11-25 |
| THE army has suffered an unprecedented exodus of more than 1,300 officers in the past six months amid anger about government cost-cutting and equipment shortages. The number quitting is more than double the rate in the previous 12 months and will add to pressure on Gordon Brown about the way his government is funding the armed services. Many of those who have resigned their commissions are from frontline units. Most are captains or majors with invaluable experience of battle. “The loss of a whole swathe of middle-ranking officers will leave us struggling to find the top quality generals of the future,” said one senior officer. “But it is clear the government does not care and would be happy to see the army reduced to a token force.” One officer, who put in his 12-months’ notice last month, said the reason most were leaving was that the army felt “undermanned, undervalued and underfunded”. I'd say this is the EUtopia's treatment of national armies in a nutshell. “We are overstretched and quite clearly underfunded,” said 31-year-old Captain Will Richards. “It’s not a lack of job satisfaction – that still exists – but the incentive to stay in is no longer there. The forces no longer get the public appreciation and recognition, or the funding, they used to.” Last week Brown had to defend his record after five former chiefs of the defence staff accused him of treating Britain’s fighting forces with contempt. The new figures, released last week by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), show the criticisms are shared by serving officers. A total of 1,344 army officers have left in the past six months alone, more than 100% up on last year’s rate and close to three times the figure for 2004-05. Since the Iraq war, the army has lost 5,790 officers, recruiting only 4,500 to replace them. It now has more than 200 too few majors – a rank in which it was traditionally overstaffed. The Parachute Regiment has lost nine officers in the past few months, all quitting in disgust at the lack of resources and poor treatment of soldiers and their families. The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, another infantry regiment, has lost a dozen officers in the past year, according to one former member of the regiment. “They have lost a complete peer group,” he said. “Many of the young captains have left.” Derek Twigg, junior defence minister, claimed last week that the newly released figures show the overall numbers for personnel across the three services remain “broadly stable”. However, the latest MoD performance report suggests there is little chance of the armed forces meeting their manpower targets by next April. Government cost-cutting has left the forces fighting far more often but with an ever-decreasing number of troops, the report says. Those leaving cite extreme overstretch and undermanning and the poor treatment of soldiers and their families. Well, if you want to give welfare and free healthcare to all those peace-loving islamic preachers and all, you've got to prioritize, haven't you? |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #6 According to General P these officers are quitting because they have more combat experience than their bosses do and their bosses aren't listening to them. The higher level commanders are not trusted by the more junior officers that now have more combat experience than their superiors. That is one of the reasons General P is participating in the selection of new Generals. He wants to promote some of those guys, get the general officer ranks filled with bright officers with good experience (rather than ones that have all the right punches in their tickets) in order to keep some of the more junior officers from leaving. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2007-11-25 13:59 |
| #5 Wait till you see the numbers if Hillary gets in charge here. She'll have a empty military managed by bureaucratic careerists. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-11-25 09:36 |
| #4 I am wondering what is going to happen to the US military if Hillary is elected. Not only are the wartime bonuses going to evaporate, but the Dems are going to want to slash the budget as punishment and general hatred of the military. When Bill was in charge, Madeline Albright sent detachments of soldiers, without support, to every corner of the planet, just to sit there. If Hillary tries crap like that, the resignations will turn into a flood. In fact, if she tries to do anything to or with the military, the resignations will turn into a flood. How does a peacetime draft sound? Blaming Bush, of course. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-11-25 09:27 |
| #3 I understand Peter Inge and Aegis are... looking for a few good men. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-11-25 08:36 |
| #2 Too bad Sandline international has ceased its activities. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-11-25 08:10 |
| #1 Are some signing up with Blackwater or like? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2007-11-25 08:03 |