Instead of the traditional interview, recruits now have to prove their mettle on a three-day selection course similar to that undertaken by all would-be officers. The clergy are put through a series of tests, both physical and mental. They have to complete a 500-metre run and, in one exercise, they have to work out how to transport a "radioactive" brick over a wall without it touching the ground. In another they have to say how they would react to a possible situation in which a soldier makes a local girl pregnant.Once selected, the new padres will face a much more rigorous training programme than in the past. It will include preparing for biological, chemical or nuclear warfare. The move follows efforts to boost the number of padres - the affectionate name given to the chaplains in the 19th century Peninsular wars. At the moment there are 161 in post, over a third of whom are on or committed to operations, often in inhospitable environments such as Afghanistan.
The Army has also just taken on its first full-time Muslim chaplain and part-time Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh chaplains. Two years ago it recruited its first female chaplain, Padre Juliette Hulme.
In the first of the new selection programmes, six out of the eight candidates were passed. The Rev Paul Gallucci, a 27-year-old Methodist minister, was one of the successes. An art college graduate, he said he felt that the role of padre would suit his strengths: "I felt like a square peg in a square hole. It just clicked." He will start training at Sandhurst early next year.