Bag's Rants

Voting with your feet.

When I spotted this regarding US army recruitment a while ago I wondered what was happening to recruitment in the UK. Now we have a report on what has happened with recruitment for the Territorial Army.

For those not in the UK the TA is like the US national guard but without the latest toys and the money. TA soldiers are part time and can be called up as reservists for the normal army and the TA is part of the regular army not a separate organisation. They have fought and have given their lives in Iraq over the last few years. 5% of the UK deaths in Iraq have been TA. People in the UK call them weekend soldiers as they have to make a minimum commitment to training of about two weeks full time with several evenings and weekends totaling about 27 days and they don't have the same working requirements such as being liable to be shipped out at a moments notice but besides that it is similar to the real army and just as hazardous.

Seems that while the normal rate for people leaving the TA was 150 per week it has been running at 600 per week since their return from Iraq in 2003. Making the TA undermanned by over 14% as it is short 6,000 from it's 41,610 staffing requirement. Recruitment is also down to 600 despite a £3M campaign.

Seems people are not willing to give up their lives for the causes our glorious leaders are putting people in the firing line for. They are voting with their feet.

So recruitment not up to staffing level, more troops requested for Iraq and Afghanistan and now Bliar is threatening Iran. How old is Bliar's son? Would he be interested in signing up? No. I thought not. He has a cushy job lined up for him in the states as an intern. I understand it is an acquired taste, Euan. You'll get used to it. :)

posted by Bag @ 2:41 pm