Our Army has only 60,000 combat soldiers
British Army today can call on just 60,000 combat troops
OUR hamstrung Army now has just 60,000 troops available for frontline action – the lowest number since the First World War.
Documents reveal that of our 77,467 trained soldiers, as many as 17,054 have been medically downgraded.
Among them are 7,082 listed as “non-deployable” and 9,972 labelled “medically limited deployable”.
Some troops who cannot deploy have fractures and illnesses while those listed for “limited operations” have short-term medical issues.
Officially, the British Army should have 82,500 soldiers.
But poor retention and recruitment have left it short.
The figure is so low it leaves our deployable army smaller than those of Spain and Poland, which have 77,500.
Our forces are on more than a dozen operations in areas including Ukraine, Iraq, Kenya, Tunisia, Borneo, Cyprus and Afghanistan.
But the Army is also under pressure to defend the UK amid rising aggression from Russia – which has 400,000 troops – and terror threats.
An infantry officer told the Mirror he has seven medically downgraded soldiers in his company. He said: “We are feeling the impact of cutbacks.
“Of seven I have who are downgraded, two are full-time reservists in their late 50s and three are regular soldiers in their 50s kept on for specialist skills and we have no one to replace them. The others are young men with injuries from a car crash.
“The Army is trying to sort this but we are short mainly because of a recruiting process which has been outsourced and forced us to retain older soldiers and reservists, who due to their age often fall foul of injury. Unless the Government steps in, it will get worse. Young soldiers are serving three years and leaving because of the conditions.” In the First World War, numbers soared to over 3 million. And we had 300,000 soldiers in the 60s and 163,000 in the late 70s. After cuts began in 2011, David Cameron agreed in 2015 to a drop from 102,000 to 82,500. A spokesman for the Army said that most medical downgrades are temporary, He added: “Huge effort is put into high-quality healthcare and rehabilitation.”
7,082 number of British Army troops currently listed as ‘non-deployable’
9,972 number of soldiers with limited deployability due to medical issues
THERESA May rarely foregoes the opportunity to praise the bravery and professionalism of our armed forces.
The Prime Minister also frequently refers to Britain’s military prowess to claim Brexit will not diminish our standing in the world.
Her words would carry more substance if her Government actually supported the army.
As we reveal today, the British Army has just 60,000 troops available for frontline combat.
This is fewer than the French, Spanish and Polish and the lowest level since the First World War.
At the same time, we have troops in more than a dozen operations from the Baltic States to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Ukraine.
The dedication of our personnel is not in question. It is a shame we cannot say the same about our Government ministers.
At a time of increased Russia aggression, we need a fully operational military capable of carrying out the duties imposed on them.
If Mrs May is genuine in her admiration for the armed forces, she should realise you cannot have a first-class military on the cheap.