The Armed Forces are 9,900 trained personnel short of their government set target, new figures released today reveal. The British Army is also over 4,600 personnel smaller than it was 3 years ago.
Under the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Armed Forces need to have 144,200 trained personnel by 2020. They’re currently at 134,300, with the number having fallen continually since 2016. Doubts have now been raised over the Ministry of Defence’s ability to meet the target by 2020.
The MoD’s Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics, which can be read here, showed that the:
- Royal Navy and Royal Marines are 1,230 short of their 30,450 personnel target
- Royal Air Force are 1,740 short of their 31,750 personnel target
- British Army are 6,930 short of their 82,000 personnel target
The full time trained strength across all services is 6.9% lower than the 2020 target, compared to 3.9% below in 2016.
The @DefenceHQ personnel crisis, shown in one image.
They're almost 10,000 full-time trained personnel below their 2020 target. pic.twitter.com/mLuVFid7bv
— Henry Jones (@hthjones) May 16, 2019
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson defended the figures, telling the UK Defence Journal: “The Armed Forces continue to meet all of its operational commitments to keep Britain safe.”
“We are fully committed to improving our recruitment process, including working with Capita to ensure any challenges are being addressed.”
The MoD declined to comment on the implications of failing to meet the 2020 target.
no they can cancel leave and reduce training to make people available to meet requirements but this is not sustainable in the long term. Also the Armed Forces should always have large redundancies built in case we take serious casualties.
is there any wonder why the recruitment is so low what with governments failing to look after it,s service personnel and i don,t mean lack of health care but married quarters dropping to bits,chased on witch hunts for doing there job and out sourcing recruitment to a private firm which takes so long people wanting to join just end up walking away,i served 15 years if i was asked would i do it again,in this day and age sorry no would be my answer
It may be the reason. However we actually see unemployment down and employment up.
Furthermore it may be… although others may know more accurately… But if may be that potential solders see the danger of literally losing life and limb in asymmetric warfare.
I hope we do continue to recruit and recruit well, but we have had an intense period where we have suffered quite high and debilitating casualties and for relatively poor military and political gain.
We gave now I think got good tactics and good equipment and can give a good response to our insurgent enemies, but a large number of soldiers have been put in harms way in the meantime without seemingly being able to “shoot back” for any good purpose.
As such… is this not one reason why recruits are not joining the colours. And given the current tactics of air strikes and drones and satellite surveillance… just what should be our army’s size and the nature of its composition be?
I see where you are coming from but I disagree with your reasoning, as when the most intense combat was happening between 2006-2009 recruitment was not an issue. Combat footage on TV daily made young lads want to join and give it a go. And on no occasion did we ever have an issue about the “not being able to shoot back” on Herrick 4, 8 there was very little interference from heads shed at Bastion (although on occasion they did stop a number of fire missions in and around Sangin in an attempt to placate the district Governer) Herrick 12 was a bit different i concur however. Maybe we were just lucky in that we were there when combat was at its fiercest (is that lucky? Lol) and we were allowed to get on and do what was needed. However in general Army recruitment is dire, UK peacetime soldiering is quite crap and there are so many gaps in units that we are now a one shot throw away military and in danger of becoming a paper tiger.
Got to Agree I went to my Army careers Center to Check out my Qualifications they Said they’d Contact Someone to find out if my NCFE Qualification was Worth Gcse’s Which I already knew it was just from that experience it nearly put me off Completely
It’s makes rather a mockery of the March statements from the 1st Sea Lord that all was well. Unfortunately the hollow words of yet another politician in uniform.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/royal-navy-now-has-enough-crew-for-both-carriers-and-their-escorts/
I know who I believe, and despite many rejoicing about numbers at the time, it was obvious that there was still a big problem with recruitment and retention.
The service is at a critical point, especially with experienced engineers being over used and burnt out due to shortages. Ships are sailing with reduced levels in engineering departments, usually with the senior rates filling the roles that junior staff would usually do, normally learning from their peers’ experience and know how. This will lead to even bigger holes in the engineering branches in the near future. There is rapidly approaching a perfect storm of retiring or resigning senior engineers, burnt out by over use, coupled with a less experienced newer generation of engineers, who, seeing the treatment of their seniors, will leave the service for more lucrative jobs in the private sector.
Minister Mordaunt.
Scrap the partnership with Capita at once and bring it all back in house. Reopen armed forces career offices, put veterans in uniform in them.
Expand the cadet organisation. Get tri service road shows set up around the UK visiting schools and deprived areas.
Ooo. Now where’s that “like” button.
Fully agree with the comment about recruiting but more needs to be done about retention (Housing, pay, etc) and support to veterans if we are to grow numbers.
You can not do to much with 82,000 troops anyway, we struggled to maintain 10,000 troops in afghanistan. Army size should be 100,000 at least.
In the perfect world with more funding I would agree but unless there is a significant national emergency this is not going to happen. We would be much better placed restoring the capabilities of our two arms which are more useful in direct defence of our island and projecting our power overseas. That’s means the RN and RAF. This coupled with modest increases in the size of the RM and Paras along with their support units would allow us to demonstrate to friend and foe alike our ability to kick the door down. We should leave occupation tasking to lesser ranked nations and assist in these with what army units we can maintain with the remains of the defence budget.
Yep good point ,I would simply just like your post but we dont have ability on ukdj any more sadly.
Sjb absolutely bang on!
Power projection is indeed the RAF and RN. Supporting UKSF, Paras, Marines, and a Gurkha Brigade, if I had my way.
‘our ability to kick the door down.’
‘lesser ranked nations’….
Oh dear. You do know that we haven’t time travelled back to the 50’s, right?
The Saudi Arabian Air Force have more Tornado’s than the RAF.
Britain is a medium sized country incapable of conducting another Suez, Gulf War or even a Falklands. We need to accept that we can’t be world policeman.
“We need to accept that we can’t be world policeman.”
Why?
“lesser ranked nations”
There are indeed Lesser Ranked Nations. Does Mozambique have the clout of the UK? Does Bangladesh? How many do I list?
Like it or not, the UK is a P5 member and G8 member. A Nuclear power.
Up the top of the Soft Power Index. Self Proclaimed Nuclear Power. Part of the Commonwealth. English is spoken worldwide. The UK has cultural economic diplomatic and military links worldwide due to legacy of Empire many on the left so despise.
Which parts of that paragraph are medium sized? You sound like Corbyn on TV when he said the UK is “rather small”
Nations are not equal, now matter how much people wish it away.
Facts.
That that Empire no longer exists is no reason to deliberately downsize ourselves in world affairs, if we are able to contribute.
Unless of course you are offended by the UK being somebody in world events.
The UK military can, and does, get involved in world events by its professionalism and ability to operate alongside the US as a peer partner. Regardless of how many jets ships and missiles we have.
“or even a Falklands”
Would not need to, because technology has changed. Now one Astute would go there and target every installation the Argentine’s set up on an occupied Falklands with TLAM.
The assets to retake the Falklands still exist. There would be no Task Force of 100 ships. The force the UK could send would be more than adequate for the task.
Which is not necessary as Argentina is no threat. But you mentioned them so I am including them.
“The Saudi Arabian Air Force have more Tornado’s than the RAF.”
And can you list all the assets and capabilities the UK has that Saudi does not? Having more Tornado’s does not make for a convincing argument.
Know how and logistics count for far more.
Very well said?
Daniele well said as per usual, however you are falling into the trapthat I used to always willingly jump into, and that is to answer Iqbal the troll in an informed and subjective manner, when you should really just laugh at him and chin him off.
Good post Daniele.
Iqbal if you struggle to understand the context of what I have written it would be better not to respond. You are underlining my point we do not have the capability to undertake significant land operations anymore but light but powerful forces such as a Commando Brigade with 4 commando units and an airmobile brigade are well within our ability to fund and support. That is not travelling back to the 1950s but is how we should be remoulding our forces. Those units supported by a modestly expanded RN and RAF would keep the UK in the top rank of nations below that of the US and China and would be a powerful conventional deterrent that we could deploy to support allies. We should be able to do a Falklands but not put an Armoured Division in the Gulf.
The days of a large British conventional army are over unless something quite extraordinary happens on the world stage.
As for being a medium power can you list those nations with a nuclear deterrent, nuclear attack submarines armed with cruise missiles, 5th generation aircraft, 2 supercarriers etc. the list will be interesting.
Ah he is back with his words of no wisdom!
Somehow we were able to maintain a 100,000 person army until Cameron and Osborne cut it by 20,000. This resulted in a serious morale problem, people left in droves beyond the desired target, promotions became more difficult, retention of mid-grade personnel became harder. Same thing happened to the RN and RAF.
As someone who is now 15 months into the application process for the RN , I believe the whole process is so long winded that only the most committed will stick around. People cannot afford to wait 18 + months to try and get a job , would be interesting to know the numbers on how many start the application and then drop out and the time frames involved
Every interaction I have had with RN directly has been superb and only further motivated me to carry on with my application but the time scales involved do put people off. Some of the timescales do seem a bit stretched ( nearly 5 months waiting for Admiralty Interview Board ) but communication has been great and expectation appropriately managed
Capita , however , are a different story – absolute dog muck!
Multiple missed phone calls , emails getting lost , being declared medically unfit due to a sprained ankle nearly 20 years , having to chase GP’s for medical records because Capita have lost them are all just some of the trials and tribulations
I’m sure its all worth it once your in but couple the above with some of the issues that others have mentioned and it becomes a far less attractive prospect
We have record numbers of people in employment.
The armed forces always struggle to recruit during periods of relative upturn.
Recruitment numbers will likely go back up if we leave the EU without a good deal and people look for a safe harbour in a stormy economic sea.
Pay better wages
NCO are paid pretty well, its only recruits and privates which are too low really.
NCOs are not that much better off.
There are a number of factors to consider.
Armed forces pay has not kept up with its civilian equivalents. In the 80s the AFPRB considered that a CPO Tiff in the RN was considered to have equal pay prospects and responsibilities as an London -Edinburgh Intercity Train Driver. Well nowadays a Chief tiff is probably on less than half of an intercity driver.
The % difference in pay between rates has also diminished. The % jump in pay is not reflected by the % jump in responsibility or S**t that you have to put up with.
Gapped billet? Oh dont worry XXX can do that as well as there normal job but you wont get any extra pay….just all the extra responsibility.
NCOs also have less disposable income because at the age you are as an SNCO you probably have a mortgage, kids and other expenses that the lads and lasses dont have. But while your pay has stood still inflation has eaten away at your disposable income.
Why would anybody with the necessary gumption and qualities waste their time when they could build a better career in the civilian world?
Not quite true but we all have an opinion, even if many have one without direct subject matter experience.
You can still have an excellent career in the armed forces, but it is very much a lifestyle as well as a job, if your a clever lad, you could join as an officer, and be earning pretty good money from the off. And despite the story’s you hear in the press, most people who leave the forces go on to have successful careers in civvi street. I served in the RN for 14 years, I now work in the offshore wind farm industry.
No. It is a question of capabilities more than personnel numbers. A root and branch reform of the services is needed. Everything from asking what they are for to the pay of the most junior rating, and everything in between.
Not a surprise really, as a Navy vet with 23 years service I’m amazed any one would want to join today given the way the got treat ex service personnel.
I certainly would no longer recommend the military as a career.
Quite happy to join back up, however at the peak of my knowledge and experience (22 years) I was deemed past it… really !
It seems to be coming home to roost. If you give people terrible pay and conditions is it any wonder our talented and committed young decide not to serve in the public services and get easier better paid office jobs instead?
Have you seen the state of UK military bases and public infrastructure?
Years of constant war fighting, force reductions lack of investment have meant those in the armed forces spend less and less time at home with their families and loved ones and more and more time on deployment.
My brother served in the RMs for 15 years during the war on terror. He spent more time on the frontline deployed then any soldier in the 1st or 2nd world wars combined. Says it all really. At a time of cut backs we fought a period of sustained combat greater than ww1 or 2, for some units.
Answer is simple put up taxes, sick of the rich having it all, the UK having a low tax high personal wealth (for some) economy, invest in infrastructure, defence and public services. Or carry on sleep walking into an absolute disaster of HMGs own making.
And if taxes go up, I can guarantee the money wont go on defence. Terrible pay and conditions? Really.i served in the RN for 14 years, I lived in single accommodation that was more like a travel lodge, en suit bathrooms, double beds, internet access, and that standard is becoming pretty much the norm across most military establishments, I had that back in 2008. Pay is actually pretty good, most will be promoted to leading hand within 5 years, that’s over 32k year, over 40k as a petty officer, your never going to be super rich in the forces, but you can be pretty comfortable. excellent pension, very generous leave allowance. and you can have that pension when your still in your early 40s. It’s still a pretty good deal. And if you don’t want to go away on deployments then don’t join up. But it does become an issue to keep people in once wifes and children come on the seen.
Robert correct mate.
The Pension is no good anymore. Its now averaged out over you pay across your career. AFPS 70 is well dead and so is its replacement.
I will agree that shore side single accom is far better than ever before as is the accom on the new ships. However the esprit de corps you had from mess living is dying out. Most people lock themselves in there room and cabin and you never see them outside of working hours. They dont use pay as you dine because its expensive and instead buy crap food from the local shops and end up living on pot noodles and monster energy drinks.
I do ok for pay…..about £70,000 as a submariner CPO. Be an officer as one person suggested? I would take the pay cut. I look forward to your comments
HAHA how clueless.
a. We’re not able to meet requirements, regardless of what the top brass say.
b. Everyone else are having to work longer and harder for no more pay, therefore leaving in even greater numbers (I left last year myself).
c. There is zero scope for contingency. If anything, for instance a bump with Iran, is to kick off we are quite buggered and would not be able to sustain a campaign like we did in Iraq or Afghanistan.
d. We look weak to the world which is a strategic disaster.