Training | 2009.09.27
Army recruitment numbers surge
Young people inspired by patriotism or facing joblessness during the recession have contributed to a surge in the number of army recruits, according to a senior officer involved in recruitment.
Ministry of Defence figures show a 25% rise in the number of recruits this year, with more signing up than at any time since 2005. This is despite the increasingly bloody conflict in Afghanistan that has claimed 80 UK lives so far this year.
Today, the MoD said a British soldier died after an explosion in Helmand, a day after two UK servicemen were killed, raising the British armed forces death toll in Afghanistan since 2001 to 218.
Despite the casualty figures, military chiefs say some young people have been inspired by patriotism to sign up.
"We are seeing gatekeepers – teachers and parents, mothers particularly – who are less keen to see their sons and daughters joining the army and that is understandable," said Colonel Jonathan Calder-Smith, who helps run the army unit responsible for recruitment.
"[But] there are more people who come in and say something along the lines of \'I want to do my bit\' – people who have seen what is happening and want to step up to the plate."
In the three months to July, 3,840 recruits signed up, compared with 2,810 during the same period the year before.
Calder-Smith said there had also been a drop in the number of people who quit between basic training and passing out – down from 35% to 28% over the last year.
"We are able to select the better candidates rather than previously when we were required through necessity to load anyone into training who passed the mandatory aptitude and physical tests."
The recession has had a big impact on the numbers coming forward, said Calder-Smith, adding: "We are happy to see an increase in candidates as long as they have the ability and skills to make it through the training and succeed in the army."
The army has undertaken a range of initiatives. In April, the government held the first armed forces day to generate support for the military with parades and marches. It has also launched it first online recruitment drive with its Start Thinking Soldier campaign and has opened three "showrooms" around the country where serving soldiers are on hand to talk about army life and offer potential recruits the chance to drive a virtual tank or take part in battlefield simulations.
The army says the showrooms – in Hackney, east London, Hounslow, west London, and Maidstone, Kent – allow it to reach people who have had little exposure to army life, offering them a chance to learn more without pressure to sign up.
Brigadier Jolyon Jackson, the head of army recruitment, said: "One of the problems is that we have not been accessible. We have hidden behind the wire for a number of years and what we really want to do is give people the opportunity to come and talk to us. We are trying to get into areas we have not been in before."
Jackson said it was not for the showrooms to highlight the "harsher realities" of warfare; these were explained later in the recruitment process. "People take the decision to join the army very seriously – you can\'t walk into a recruitment office one day and get in the next day," he said. "It is a long and strenuous process."
The Hackney centre tells visitors they can experience "test driving virtual tanks minutes after they\'ve stepped off the bus", see if they have "what it takes to be able to survive in a conflict situation" and try out "the same battlefield simulators that British soldiers use in their training".
Protesters, who have staged regular demonstrations outside the Hackney showroom, claim the army is trivialising the dangers of life in the armed forces.
"It seems that the government\'s response to recruitment problems is to target younger and younger people from more and more disadvantaged areas," said a local Labour councillor, Angus Mulready-Jones. "That is the only reasonable explanation for opening this showroom in Hackney."
He has signed an open letter criticising the showroom and said it was inappropriate to allow children as young as 14 to play "wargames".
"It seems to me that we are limiting the aspirations of people in areas like this. We have a huge shortage of social workers, planners and NHS staff but instead of offering training for worthwhile long-term employment, we are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on these fancy recruitment centres that give a very one-sided view of life in the army," he said.
"This is being done in the knowledge that the young men and women from Hackney who do become squaddies will be among the first to die on the battlefields of places like Afghanistan."
Veterans\' groups say the growth in the number of recruits meant more people had a direct connection with the armed forces.
Robert Lee, a spokesman for the Royal British Legion, said: "It seems there is a more direct and immediate link now between people and the armed forces family than there has been for generations."
He said it placed an increased responsibility on the country at large. "Each and every one of those men and women that put themselves in harm\'s way for their country requires lifelong care and that puts an onus on government, the armed forces and charities."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/27/british-army-recruitment-surge
