|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
News Search
|
|
27-11-2004 Scotsman 'Too many chiefs not enough indians' By Defence Correspondent Gethin Chamberlain THE British Army is employing hundreds of officers that it does not need at a time when the military's top brass insists that Scotland's infantry regiments need to be amalgamated to save money, The Scotsman can reveal. The case for the loss of one Scottish battalion has been argued by the Ministry of Defence on the grounds of recruiting shortfalls. But new government figures show that the MoD argument is fatally flawed. The cost of the 370 surplus officers in the army is estimated to be more than GBP 10 million a year, and could top GBP 20 million. The cost of maintaining a regiment for 12 months is approximately GBP 17 million. Last night, a spokesman for the Save the Scottish Regiments campaign said there were "too many chiefs and not enough indians" and promised to fight on to the bitter end to reverse the decisions. "The gloves are off now - if this Labour government think they have seen the campaign at it's maximum strength they are mistaken," he said. "Stabbing Scotland's soldiers in the back while they carry out work on behalf of the government and country is what is really happening here." The Scotsman has also learned that under the Ministry of Defence plans, the Black Watch and the other threatened Scottish regiments will lose their individual identities as early as November next year. From that point on, unless political pressure forces the government into an unlikely climbdown, they will be known as the Royal Regiment of Scotland. As of 1 October this year, the army had 370 more officers than its own stated requirements - 14,080 instead of the 13,710 it should have on its books. Meanwhile, the Scottish Division [made up of the Scottish infantry regiments] is short of 328 men and the army as a whole is short of 3,320 other ranks - 89,700 instead of the 93,020 it should have. The British Army has five generals on its books, 12 lieutenant-generals, 46 major generals, 170 brigadiers, 590 colonels and 1,740 lieutenant-colonels. Lt-Col James Cowan, the commanding officer of the Black Watch, is one of only a handful of lieutenant-colonels in front line postings; many of the others, and the majority of the more senior officers, are employed in MoD desk jobs. The MoD claimed that its recruitment and staffing figures did not tell the whole story. A spokesman said: "All of these officers have important roles to play within the armed forces. It is not the case that they are sitting around twiddling their thumbs." But restricted army papers reveal even more puzzling anomalies. General Sir Mike Jackson, Britain's most senior soldier, has argued that Scotland cannot recruit enough soldiers to man its existing six regiments. "If these regiments are so precious, why are not more young Scotsmen signing up? Why are the Royal Scots having to recruit Fijians?" he said in a recent interview. Gen Jackson has argued that larger regiments - the so-called super-regiments - suffer fewer recruiting problems, but the army's own figures tell a different story. His own Parachute Regiment - a model for the new army structure - is at present more reliant on foreign and Commonwealth soldiers than the combined Scottish regiments, using on average 37 such soldiers in a battalion compared to 35 in the Scottish regiments. The Paras are not over-recruited either: 3 Para is short of 30, the same shortfall as the Black Watch. However, it is when the figures for foreign and Commonwealth soldiers are stripped out of the existing super-regiments that the full scale of their problems is revealed. The Royal Green Jackets, with two battalions, use a total of 191 such soldiers. The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment, also with two battalions, uses 207. The entire Scottish Division, with six regiments, uses just 208. But senior army officers, and the MoD, are refusing to contemplate backing down on their plans to restructure the army in Scotland and to get rid of one entire Scottish battalion. Yesterday an MoD spokesman said: "The issue of foreign and Commonwealth soldiers is neither here nor there as to the future of the battalions." He said it was up to the individual soldiers which regiments they joined: "They are not being artificially boosted by foreign and Commonwealth soldiers," he said. Soldiers serving with the Black Watch at Camp Dogwood in Iraq yesterday described the decision as a kick in the teeth. "I feel terrible that the regiment is coming to an end," said 23-year-old Lee Beaton, from Dundee. "We are all working hard and this is how we are rewarded." Geoff Hoon will announce the cuts on 16 December, ten days after the Army Board meets to finalise its recommendations. Colonel commandants of the Scottish regiments have been invited to the meeting to argue their individual cases, but there appears to be little chance of a change of heart. The first three of four infantry battalions to disappear completely from the army will go by April 2007, with the final disbandment or amalgamation pencilled in for the following April. The Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers - which are to be merged into a single battalion - will have to wait until Mr Hoon's announcement to discover when the axe will fall on them.
|
|
||||
|
................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
|||||||
