8,200 recruits are needed to fill gaps in Armed Forces
tHe armed Forces have a shortfall of 8,200 regular troops in the ‘largest gap in a decade’, whitehall’s spending watchdog says.
in the critical military areas was such so understaffed as intelligence that operations could not be carried out without cancelling leave or training.
there was a 26 per cent shortfall in intelligence analysts last year, according to the National audit Office (NaO) – even as the Ministry of Defence tries to bolster its cyber capabilities.
the report said this was because of increasing demand for analysts and difficulties persuading troops to stay in the military. It comes as alarm grows over cyber attacks from foreign states – most notably Russia – and the spread of Islamist extremism.
Labour MP Meg Hillier, chairman of the Commons’ public accounts committee, said: ‘In these uncertain times, it is more critical than ever that Britain has a wellstaffed armed Forces with the technical know-how to handle threats to national security.
‘But the NaO report shows that the armed Forces are woefully below complement, especially in crucial areas like intelligence and engineering.’
as of January, the full-time military was operating at 5.7 per cent below the target, the NaO said, pointing out that there were ‘much larger shortfalls in critical skills’.
the watchdog said there were 102 areas that did not have enough trained regulars to carry out operational tasks without cancelling leave or training.
according to the NaO, most of these so- called ‘pinch points’ were in engineering, intelligence, logistics, pilots, communications has become and medical. more as severe the impact over the are expected past year, to just be six resolved of the over 102 the next five years – with 23 getting even worse. In critical areas, the Navy has a shortfall of 1,226 personnel, the army 4,485 and the RaF 2,032. this includes a lack of some 2,400 engineers – with the largest among Navy weapons specialists – as well as a shortfall of 700 intelligence analysts and the need for 800 pilots. the NaO said the ‘increasing risk of cyber and electronic attacks will change the capabilities and skills that the armed Forces will need in future’. ‘the new demands will add to the pressure to increase capability in some trades that already have shortfalls,’ the report added. leaving the the military number voluntarily of regulars has a year increased in March from 2010 3.8 to per 5.6 cent per cent last December. the MoD spent more than £664million on these areas in the past five years – but Miss Hillier said it ‘needs to take a long, hard look at its current approach’. NaO chief Sir amyas Morse said ensuring the armed Forces had the right number of skilled personnel was ‘not a new challenge’ facing the MoD. But he said: ‘Given the complexity and development of new, modernworld threats, it is a challenge that will only continue to grow.’ the MoD said recruiting and retaining talent was a ‘top priority’ and there was a range of schemes used to attract and keep skilled personnel, with 13,000 recruits in the past year. ‘the military has enough personnel to meet all its operational requirements, including being active on 25 operations in 30 countries throughout the world,’ a spokesman said.
as it tries to encourage civilians to join the armed Forces – and persuade current troops to stay – the military faces competition from a healthy civilian jobs market. In January, an army recruitment campaign which told soldiers it was okay to cry, be gay and pray was criticised for failing to target traditional potential recruits.
the £ 1.6million campaign, which included new radio, tV and online adverts, tried to address concerns would-be soldiers might have about religion or sexuality.