Infantry crisis as troops quit

**jcj** · 05-01-2007, 17:20

Worst-hit is the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Welsh, which is a staggering 165 men down.

The others 100 or more down are the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards, the 5th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, the 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, the Cheshire Regiment, and the 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007000617,00.html

Makes grim reading

beefy22 · 05-01-2007, 18:06

Dont belive everything you read in the SUN

**dutchman** · 05-01-2007, 18:49

very true beefy , that bird on page 3 thursday was never 36 dd

**Gwyn Nicholas** · 05-01-2007, 18:54

It does make for grim reading but let us be honest about it, there are no suprises here! With all the stories of lack of equipment and support (nothing new) coming out of Iraq and Afganistan, what right-minded person would swallow any Positive recruitment advertising?
The only blessing that our lads have at the moment is that Northern Ireland has calmed. If it kicks off again "leave" will be renamed a 48 hour pass . I look forward to hearing what this bunch of no-hope civilians come up with to play down the crisis, no doubt they will "recognise" the problems, they will be "addressing" the situation, they may possibly come up with a financial answer provided the chancellor can find a way of retrieving any promised funding before it actually leaves the treasury! What about National Service? A perfect time to introduce it. Get the Bad boys off the streets, pay conscripts less money than professional soldiers but more than dole money. I was appalled at the state of some of the accomodation they showed on the news last evening. I can remember some pretty horrible quarters and Barracks but having witnessed the modernisation of our Barracks in 1993/94 in Tidworth , I thought things were on the up. Thirteen years on, it seems that is far from being reality. I am not really the political sort but I remember previous Labour Governments, they have never and will never have any loyalty towards the forces (apart from using and abusing them). Remember being told back in the nineties , the reason for Redundancy ," A Smaller but better equipped army". A Joke-but not funny!

ukcalling · 05-01-2007, 19:08

Gwyn i beleive it is down to the standard of soldier that is being recruited in this day and age no disraspect to them. But there is no dissapline in the army these days never mind at home. Surely its up to the soldiers them selves not to let it get in to that state?. i remember in Berlin when handing over wasnt the grass painted green where it had lost colour?. I know ther RWF sorry RW wouldnt of let it get to that state. After working in care homes since leaving the army i know national service is a good idea but will it ever happen? i dont think so.

Paul Hinge · 05-01-2007, 19:35

I agree with everything that has been said but would like to add that even during my service the Army, and the rest of the services were quite willing to let highly experienced men whom they had spent thousands upon thousands of pounds trianing leave the forces without too much of a fight. They operated a policy of "we can always recruit more!"
Well that was all well and good when there were gaps between commitments but today we are seeing increasingly the demands on soldiers and serviceman being such that they quite literally go from one commitment to another with very little resipte in between. Consequently they get "****** off" and look to the grass that supposedly is greener in Civvy Street.
Finally, when it come to equipment, all I can say that it's a farce and either the politicians are lying or the civil servants are shooting them a tissue of lies or both!

Hingey

**jcj** · 05-01-2007, 19:59

Originally Posted by beefy22

Dont belive everything you read in the SUN

I take everything the SCUM prints with a pinch of salt but in this case it is true. We are not only losing young Fus's and Pte's but many of our best trained Cpl's and SNCO's are leaving and then signing up to go back to Iraq and earn triple their salary working for Private security firms. Dodgy but lucrative and who can blame them. In the 70's we got fed up with back to back tours of NI well these young lads feel the same about a third six month tour of Iraq in three years. You couple that with the build up training etc where is the fun side of Army life going. I can speak with experience recruiting is not the problem Retention is. I have been in the Army for 40 years and still serving, I believe I am very lucky to have served when you worked hard but there was also quality of life and a lot of sport and FUN. Apologies for banging on.

ukcalling · 05-01-2007, 20:07

Not at all these points need airing and some thing needs to be done b4 we loose the army altogether

**jcj** · 05-01-2007, 20:13

Originally Posted by ukcalling

Not at all these points need airing and some thing needs to be done b4 we loose the army altogether

Sorry if I offend as I am not Ex RWF and by default a guest but I thought this forum was called General Discussion

**dutchman** · 05-01-2007, 20:16

gwyn i work with quite a few BLAD BOYS as you call them and i agree national service is a great idea but do you know the feedback i get about serving in the forces from the BLAD boys, it's not oh my god i aint going to iraq/afghanistan whatever its all down to the point ukcalling brought up the BLAD boys say " i aint having no f****** p**** tell me what to do id smack him in the mouth" then in the same sentence they are bragging how they told off other blad boys for disrespecting them . strange old world aint it , when you expect discipline from others but will not under any circumstances take it yourself .
at the same time the current situation has got to be putting youngsters off joining when you hear more and more the treatment or lack of handed out to wounded and psychologically damaged forces personel . would i join now , not in a million and if my boy wanted to i'd lock him up.