Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FEW RECRUITS
Only 14 apply for 95 Army training places as forces shrink to 200yr low
AN Army training course had 82 of its 96 places left unfilled as a recruitment crisis grips the military.
Only 14 would-be troops signed up for the common infantry course at Catterick, the Army’s biggest base.
And not a single course for new recruits across all bases has been filled to capacity in the last two years.
The revelations expose the scale of the meltdown that has stripped the Army back to its lowest level since before the Napoleonic Wars 200 years ago.
It comes after ministers controversially hived off Army recruitment to private firm Capita to cut costs.
Sources claim training centres have extra capacity “to meet fluctuations”.
Yet of 3,984 places available on 37 courses at Catterick, North Yorks, between July 2015 and June this year, just two thirds were filled – with 1,300 empty.
The worst was a course that began on April 9 this year, attended by just 14.
And the trend extends to other areas of recruitment. Of a possible 960 places for Catterick’s Guards infantry courses between June 2015 and May this year, almost half, 444 places, went unfilled.
The admission came in a letter from Armed Forces Minister Mark Lancaster to Labour MP Stephen Doughty, who is campaigning over falling Army numbers.
STRETCH
Mr Doughty said: “Our brave men and women are at full stretch across the world and keeping us safe when terrorists threaten the home front.
“It’s scandalous that ministers have threatened further Army cuts and taken their eye off the ball over recruitment.
“After failing them on pay, pensions and housing, the Tories are letting down our Army yet again.”
The figures show many empty seats at Pirbright in Surrey, which provides phase one training for the Army Air Corps, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Intelligence Corps, Royal Corps of Signals, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery and Royal Logistic Corps.
Three in every 10 places at the base have gone unfilled since July 2015.
In May, one course dropped to 41% of capacity, filling only 39 of 96 places. And at Army Training Regiment Winchester, which trains standard recruits, more than a quarter of spaces were unfilled.
In his letter, Mr Lancaster insisted the number of available places “takes into consideration wastage, instructor to student ratio and separate-sex courses”.
The MOD said the number of places were not an indication of recruitment targets, insisting: “Recruitment levels are good. The Army has enough people to perform operational requirements.”
The Tories cut troop numbers by 20,000 after coming to power in 2010.
They pledged at the 2015 election to maintain the Army’s 82,000 strength, but numbers have now fallen to 78,400.
More than 10% of service personnel plan to leave “as soon as they can” or have already given in their notice.
And 25% told the Armed Forces Continuous Attitudes Survey they will leave before their commission is over.
Gripes included devalued pensions and pay, poor housing and poor kit.