Army recruitment crisis as soldier numbers fall

The Army is facing a “dangerous” crisis in soldier numbers because of a “flawed austerity drive” introduced by Chancellor Philip Hammond, critics have warned. The Armed Forces Service Personnel Statistics, released when Parliament closed for the summer, show that the numbers of fully trained regular army soldiers has dropped below a previous “trained strength” target of 82,000 to 78,010 – a shortfall of 3,990 fully trained troops. The figures also reveal that the numbers leaving the part-time Army Reserve – formerly the Territorial Army – increased by 20 per cent in the year to 1 June. Critics claim official figures underplay the true scale of the problem as the Government has redefined “trained soldiers” in a way that allows more reservists to be counted in the part-time force’s “trained strength”.