Recruitment

Something about a soldier

Richard Brett-Smith

The difficulties of recruiting for the army in peacetime are many. Other countries may be at war, and there is therefore a need to maintain balanced forces; equally, when there is a vicious mess such as in Northern Ireland, not aided by Southern Irish intrigue, basic commitments such as NATO or fire-brigade forces for use elsewhere will be weakened.

Lord Carrington recently made an extremely important and rather alarming point, which defence students of all parties should take to heart. Recruiting prospects, according to the Secretary of Defence, may not become any easier; the reverse, rather, is the possibility.

For many years now Britain has relied on allvolunteer forces to meet her varied and often unexpected defence commitments. A huge majority of her European allies, on the other hand, have retained peacetime conscription, which was introduced in this country just before the second world war, and continued in one form or another until 1962.

The decision to revert to volunteer forces, however, was published in the British Defence White Paper of 1957; and from 1956 National Service men did not have to continue and complete their army commitment in the Territorial Army, or, in the case of the other Services, in an equivalent reserve force.

It should be stressed that many of the problems, aims, disappointments and achievements of the British army are common to the other services. Each, naturally, has its own requirements and hopes, but inter-service cooperation has never, except in wartime, been better than it is now.

Unlike some of her continental neighbours, such as Germany. Russia and France, Britain has not had a tradition of military as opposed to civil power since the iniquitous days of Cromwell and the rule of his major-generals. The English (using the word in its broad sense) have proud military traditions but are not a militaristic race. Cromwell and his henchmen, indeed, produced such a revulsion against ' the military 'that the English swung right in the opposite direction. Thus the soldiers of Marlborough, of Wellington, of Wol seley, Roberts, and even of Kitchener who saved their political masters and perhaps their country were usually doomed to con tempt and poverty-making pensions not too long after their brilliant victories had been forgotten by the public.

But in fact Britain would have been defeated in two world wars without the Territorials and the Reserves, most of whom did magnificent fighting work. Today it is the aim of Ministry of Defence planners to restore the old Territorial Army, under whatever name, to its pre-1939 standards if not size. In recent years it has been mutilated, especially by Labour Government cuts, but then somewhat restored with the goodwill of all parties and much better equipment. Its actual size remains an imponderable. All sensible regular soldiers wish to see it expanded if the country can afford that, and nowadays British industry helps splendidly by allowing workers time off — without pay penalties — for training.

Broadly, the British army thinks that it has settled into a pattern which is just about wht the country can achieve and pay for, and, of the utmost importance, one that politicians will accept in the light of Britain's military commitments.

This sounds rosy enough when emanating from the Horse Guards or Whitehall, as if the whole scales of army strengths, regular, re serve, and volunteer reserve (i.e. Territorial Army) were more Or less in balance. But are they? The country disapproves of keeping too large military forces in peacetime — but, regarding Ulster, the crime figures, and even London bomb explosions, how peaceful does one think the times are today? Ask the police.

Staff planners have to admit that it would be extremely difficult for the army to cope with two major crises simultaneously, and Ulster is certainly one. Suppose there were another in Singapore, the Persian Gulf, in British-aligned parts of Africa, in Hong Kong, the West Indies or the NATO area?

Could Britain manage by herself with two major military problems, perhaps three? Probably not, but she has some trustworthy allies, and allies are there to help when the going gets rough. However, it is not the British custom to wait to be bailed out by other nations. Recruiting, therefore, is all-important.

The size of the regular army looks likely to settle down at about 160,000, if present aims are achieved; this is lower than the 1971 and 1972 figures (in each case including women and nurses), which were over 177,000 and 181,000 respectively. Some people would like to see the last figure maintained, but it is expensive. It is illuminating to note that President Nixon's target for the United States active-duty army in 1973 is only 841,000, although the Americans of course can muster far greater numbers of reserves and National Guardsmen than European countries. After Vietnam the United States may well feel she needs a new and separate professional army backed up by good reservists, rather than a largely conscripted one.

The last published British Army quarterly recruiting figures 'showed a disconcerting drop, probably due lin part to nationwide disgust over the Ulster situation, since the only hard military news emanating thence usually concerns casualtieswhile this does not put

off keen would-be soldiers, it certainly puts off their families ard their girls. The drop, in fact, was 26 per cer t from the previous quar ter: nevertheless, the army remains confident that it will recruit successfully up to its full requirement by 1975. It is thinking in terms of a tOtal annual intake of 17,500 non-commissioned men, which in good circumstances should be adequate, and of an officer strength permanently between 14,000 and 18,000.

The normal lengths of engagement now are three, six, nine and twenty-two years. I-n general it is possible for a soldier to buy himself out at any time, or to leave the Army after giving eighteen months' notice. The three-year engagement, long advocated by some, is comparatively recent but common to all three services. It is thought by the army the minimum period in which to get — and to give — worthwhile value out of the system in terms of specialisation and all-round perform ance. Basic infantry training to equip a soldier to fight may take only fourteen to eighteen weeks (veterans think this astonishing), but thereafter the army concentrates on specialised training for a highly modern force. Obviously this may often be useful to a man or woman later on in civilian life.

The old-fashioned picture that the public gets too much of, from some television dra mas, other entertainments, and from the pon tifications of the uninformed, is out of date; life in the modern army does not consist mainly of petty restrictions of personal free dom, 'bull,' pointless discipline and class distinction. Despite the appearance of the army of the People's Republic of China, rank has to matter and be observed; otherwise an army becames a gaggle.

Today British soldiers often have very different views about their life and work from those of British civilians without any military experience. Soldiers also marry much earlier than they used to, because they can afford marriage. This means that the army may lose many good men; but it also means that the rates of prolongation of service from three to six to nine years have all increased during the past three years, especially in the infantry, and there are still a great many single soldiers in the army. Officers have to concentrate more, and more continuously, upon' man management ' than in the past. Nowadays there is more conversation and discussion between officers and ' other ranks' than there was, say, twenty years ago. Mutual respect and understanding are the objectives. One of the vital questions is that of pay. Old sweats may well recoil in horror when they see what the modern soldier earns, plus 'all found' and bonuses such as cheap travel and

holidays in many cases. But the politicians have to realise that if you want a fine regular and volunteer army you have to pay it pro' perly, and that, in a world of great industrieS and trade unions, services 'pay and pensions must be reviewed regularly. Pensions area' important as pay, and today in the British army both are good. After twenty-two year/ service a soldier will get roughly a third of his, final salary on pension, and at the age or fifty-five, if he stays that long, about half'? his final year's salary will be the sum of his annual pension. There is, at first sight surprisingly, much demand in civilian life from employers for ex' soldiers aged about forty; those whose wives or families urge them out of the Service after six or nine years, or who leave for other per' sonal reasons, will nut usually find it hard 10 get jobs anyway; those who leave after twelve years find it harder. Conscription is not basically a British trach: tion. It is in many other parts of the worin, where there may be completely different problems, especially in large parts of Asia. the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. Fac' tors such as the very poor standard of living', military rule and revolutions, shortages 0', jobs, geographical position and climate, at these affect different countries differently. It the communist world, conscription is clearlY axiomatic, unless some of the factors men' tioned intervene. But communist, just as fas,' cist, forces have their own problems with training and reserves, and with national or regional patriotism or chauvinism.

Here it is relevant to quote from a recent article in Time:

West Germany's Bundeswehr, descendant of the once mighty Wehrmacht, is filled with slovenit long-haired drafteeson I5-month hitches. As for the US Seventh Army, it has been more conspicuo1;15 during the past two years for its racial battles 1,0 Frankfurt then its prowess in manbeuvres. Britain! volunteer Army of the Rhine, on the other hank,.15 the best field force in Western Europe. But wiT, only 50,0110 men it is too small to defend GermanP vast northern plain on its own. From Mosco,. however, the forces of NATO appear to be some what more formidable. The Russians are awall„ that their own army is composed of conscripts whc' spend only 18 months of their two-year service oh active duty. They also have good reason to be seer Mal about the strength and dependability of EaSt. .em Europe's armies.

No Englishman in his senses thinks that the British army is perfect or has all the an: swers. The writer, having served with an0 under command of American troops, retains the highest regard for them, and considerS that those Britons who decry America are either knaves or fools.

To some people the regular army, or anY regular force for that matter, will always he anathema. But in a small country such a,S, Great Britain the roots of the regular as Wet as of the volunteer army go deep into Brit's', soil, remaining despite automation and ever' growing industrialisation and urbanisation, Cities and towns, moreover, are proud °1,, their military traditions; in both town an. countryside there are real links between the army and civilians. One, hopes, therefore, to see the regular army settle at its right size, always adjustable according to circumstances, and for the modern equivalent of the old Territorial Atilt the Volunteer Army, to be encouraged any modernised, and to a large extent restored to old standards of enthusiasm.

James Boswell, an unlikely military figure, tried desperately hard, but without success tc'd obtain a commission in the Guards. Edwar Gibbon had more fortune, despite his ovi,11 ample figure, in military life, although not 10,, the regular army of his day. He wrote with simplicity: " my principle obligation to Itl: militia was the making me an Englishrna" and a soldier."