Young soldiers ‘manipulated to give a false view of life in Army’

The Army has been accused of “manipulating” teenage soldiers by recycling the same press statement on their behalf across the country.

Child Soldiers International, a charity that works to stop children being recruited to the Armed Forces, accused the Army of whitewashing military life and “dictating word for word statements for the press”.

The organisation spotted that graduates of the Army Foundation College (AFC) had given the same quotes praising military life in dozens of newspaper reports since 2015.

“Graduating from AFC Harrogate in front of my friends and family is something I am very proud of doing. I’m now looking forward to the next stage of my Army career,” several graduates were quoted as saying.

Rachel Taylor, of Child Soldiers International, told The Guardian: “Army recruitment campaigns portray an unrealistic and highly edited version of military life. It’s still shocking, however, to see that this manipulation extends to dictating word for word statements for the press.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: “Junior soldier graduates are right to be extremely proud of their achievements.”