Training | 2009.12.24
MoD accused of cutting army training exercises
Critics say government potentially jeopardising military capability and core skills
The MoD has been accused of compromising the capability of the Armed Forces by scrapping major army training exercises to cut costs.
The Tories said the cancellation of 56 training exercises this year would undermine both the current campaign in Afghanistan and Britain\'s ability to respond to future threats.
Defence minister Bill Rammell rejected the criticism as "irresponsible scaremongering", insisting training courses were often rescheduled and all troops were prepared for the "challenges they face".
The cut exercises reportedly include 38 for regular forces and 18 for the TA. For example, the RAF withdrew from Bold Avenger 09, an exercise which included aircraft from 11 other Nato powers, including the US.
General Sir David Richards, Chief of the General Staff, told the Times: "Whilst in a perfect world we would have wished to keep options open for the various cancelled exercises, in practice the army is now rightly focusing on defence\'s top priority – training for Afghanistan."
He said troops would not have time between tours of duty to complete all the exercises on the training programmewhich could jeopardise core skills in the long term.
The shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said: "The government is potentially compromising military capability to save money. Training isn\'t for fun. When we\'ve got the Navy in the Gulf of Aden dealing with pirates and the Army and Marines in Afghanistan, we need to keep their military skills at the highest level of readiness." In October it was revealed that basic training for the Territorial Army had been stopped for six months to save £20m – cuts were reversed after the government was swamped with complaints.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2009/dec/24/army-training-cuts
