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TA fighting strength will fall to 25,000 after Treasury cuts
Robert Fox28 Apr 2009
BRITAIN'S reserve armed forces are to be radically cut, under plans to be announced by the Government today.
The effective fighting strength of the Territorial Army is to be slashed to around 25,000 and tailored to specific operations such as the campaign in Afghanistan.
The move has raised fears among army chiefs that the Government will use the recession to impose a ceiling on recruiting for the forces.
As unemployment grows more people are applying to join, but the Treasury wants to limit the number of new recruits.
One senior officer said: "We're getting a better quality of recruit now. To impose a cap on numbers now would be a disaster - you cannot turn recruiting on and off like a tap."
According to MoD manning targets, the TA should have 38,500 members overall, but the most recent figures show it has only 28,920 people.
Among the units to go under the new proposals, which come after a year-long review, will be specialist ones such as signals detachments attached to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps HQ, currently being transferred from Rheindahlen in Germany to Gloucester.
However, Army chiefs believe numbers will need to expand by up to 10,000 if the present high tempo of operations continues.
They would like the standing strength of the Army to come up from the present limit of 102,000 to 110,000, with an active reserve, whereby reserve volunteers serve up to a year on operations, taking the total figure to around 140,000.
The chiefs insist this number is needed to provide adequate forces for the Afghan conflict and humanitarian operations.
More troops are required to provide a reserve of manpower for emergencies such as terrorist attacks and natural disasters, and to augment public services during pandemics like the one threatened by the swine flu outbreak.
A cap on recruiting was imposed after John Major's government introduced a severe round of cuts in the Options For Change programme of 1991, causing lasting damage to many infantry regiments.
In 1998, the Labour Government's Strategic Defence Review hit the territorials hard with 87 companies in 33 battalions reduced to 67 companies in 15 battalions.
But in recent years, the TA has assumed a higher profile as the regular army became increasingly engaged in operations overseas.
Around 6,900 personnel from the territorials were mobilised for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and 1,200 troops each year support the regular army in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.
Officially created after Parliament passed legislation in 1907 which saw the yeomanry and volunteers consolidated into the Territorial Force, the first TA units stood up for action on 1April 1908 and it was first mobilised in August 1914.
Reader views (6)
We wil be in a sorry state without the TA ,the lads and the girls do a great job. Plenty of money cut the MPs money. That will do for a start.
- K Rogers, surrey /England, 28/10/2009 15:56
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labour have let down the army after committing them to war. this is wrong and many soldiers will get injured or even die due to these cutbacks. i used to be a labour supporter but not anymore they have lost my vote
- Tom, wolverhampton, UK, 16/10/2009 15:58
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Having served in the territorials an now in regular service i feel a little let down by these cuts.The TA has gone from a weekend social club to a proffesional part time army in the last few years due to the opperational tempo in A fganista /Iraq so why wreck all the hard work that has been done to make us all one Army?These cuts can only cause widespread problems in the backup an support that the TA provide for the regular Army.
- Craig Thornton, salisbury UK, 16/10/2009 11:31
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officially , although recruitment and those already commited to upcoming ops will continue to be trained. a few issues such as those requiring continuation training to become fit for role and the few that should be attending courses for continued career development have been put on hold and possibly miss the chance to progress ,as no doubt the demand will be great for these courses when and if training ever commences ......thank you labour ....u have quite possibly finished the TA and those insurgents /terrorist and non patriotics living here that the labour party seeks to please will no doubt be glad to see the TA closed for good ,so they can react to ensure the regular forces , that do such a good job ,despite political wrangling over equipment and aftercare of injured soldiers , will be stretched to the limit . Recruitment of regular soldiers may currently be suspended ,but when soldiers start becoming victims more often , lets see who will want to join then .
- Wayne Murphy, manchester UK, 14/10/2009 16:58
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Either we need these territorials or we don't. -Treasury cost cutting shouldn't be allowed to influence the situation. -They can make plenty of 'cuts' among the army of 'Benefits-scroungers' i.e. the workshy and those with 'alleged' disabilities!
- Huggy, Cumbernauld Scotland, 14/10/2009 15:58
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Scandalous. A Labour Government that has committed British troops time and again still doesn't want to pay the bill. I have friends who are reservists and they have served full-time with units in Afghanistan. There is definitely a need for these units, especially the specialist ones as it's so hard to recruit people with the neccesary skills.
- Mark, London, 14/10/2009 15:58
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