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| Britain |
| British army imposes cap on recruiting Commonwealth and foreign soldiers |
| 2005-11-14 |
| THE Army has stopped actively recruiting Commonwealth and foreign soldiers because the numbers joining up have risen by nearly 3,000 per cent in seven years. Imposing a cap on the number of Commonwealth and foreign soldiers allowed to serve in each infantry regiment has been discussed by army chiefs. âIt is after all supposed to be the British Army, not the Commonwealth Army,â one defence source said. However, in recent years, many regiments would not have survived without the influx of recruits from the Commonwealth, particularly from Fiji, Jamaica, South Africa and Ghana, because of drastic manpower shortages. Soldiers from overseas now account for 6 per cent of the Armyâs strength, rising to 9 per cent if the 3,000 Gurkhas recruited from Nepal are taken into account. Last year the 1st Battalion The Princess of Walesâs Royal Regiment had 116 overseas and Commonwealth citizens serving in its ranks, representing about 20 per cent of the total strength. The Black Watch had 31 Commonwealth soldiers, most of them Fijian. The overseas recruits are regarded as high-quality soldiers who have played an increasingly important role in operations such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Many have won gallantry medals: Private Johnson Beharry, 25, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for saving the lives of his comrades in Iraq in 2003, was born in Grenada and was one of the 116 Commonwealth soldiers who joined the 1st Battalion The Princess of Walesâs Royal Regiment. The problem for army chiefs is that the number of applicants from the Commonwealth has risen dramatically at the same time as recruits from within the United Kingdom have dropped significantly. General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General Staff, revealed yesterday that in the last financial year recruitment had fallen 7 per cent short of the target. Yet the Commonwealth figures show that numbers have risen from 205 in 1998 to about 6,000 this year. There are currently 5,500 Commonwealth and overseas soldiers serving in the UK Field Army and another 700 recruits are under training. Other infantry regiments with a high proportion of overseas or Commonwealth soldiers include: The Royal Scots with 89 (the latest figures relate to November last year); the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Walesâs Royal Regiment, 91; the 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets, 88; the 2nd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets, 107; and the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, 85. The sharp rise in Commonwealth recruits began a few years ago when army planners realised that there was an untapped source of soldiers in the Commonwealth who might be persuaded to join the British Army. Under the eligibility rules, recruits can join the Army if they are Commonwealth citizens or have dual nationality, of which one half must be British, or are citizens of the Irish Republic. With gaps appearing in many of the British infantry regiments, the Army began an intensive drive to recruit from the Commonwealth, and teams were sent far and wide, from the Caribbean to southern Africa, to offer careers in the British Army. The take-up was beyond all expectation. The influx of Fijians was particularly welcomed, not just because of their military prowess but also because of their reputation as excellent rugby players. The Armyâs rugby team has benefited accordingly. Defence sources said that the Army had now stopped actively recruiting in the Commonwealth, even though there was still a significant shortfall in manpower. Figures released four years ago showed that the top Commonwealth recruiting countries were Fiji, followed by South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Jamaica and India. THE FRENCH WAY The French Foreign Legion # The 7,600 legionnaires and non-commissioned officers come from 136 countries # Recruits have to join under a âdeclared identityâ which does not have to be the applicantâs real one, to cater for men with pasts they wish to forget # Frenchmen who join as legionnaires or NCOs have to change their nationality to that of another French-speaking country, so they are officially foreigners # Applicants do not have to have military experience |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 # Recruits have to join under a âdeclared identityâ which does not have to be the applicantâs real one, to cater for men with |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-14 20:59 |
| #1 Damn, damn, and damn the caps. |
| Posted by: Thrish Unailet3961 2005-11-14 16:04 |