Military Cuts: 1,500 Personnel To Lose Jobs

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

More than 1,500 military personnel are to lose their jobs as part of defence cuts, the Defence Secretary has announced.

Philip Hammond said that 1,425 of the losses would fall in the Army along with 70 RAF medical and dental officers redundancies and 10 in the Royal Navy, in the fourth and final round of cuts.

Among the Army units affected by the cuts will be the Brigade of Gurkhas, Mr Hammond confirmed, saying they would lose 350 posts.

The redundancies are part of the Defence Secretary's controversial policy of reducing the number of permanent Army personnel while expanding the number in the Army reserves.

By 2020 Mr Hammond aims to have reduced troop numbers from 102,000 to 82,000, while the reserve force will increase from 19,000 to 30,0000. 

Announcing the cuts Mr Hammond said: "For the men and women of our armed forces, I know that this has been a painful process but completion of this final tranche will mark a turning point.

"With the bulk of our troops back from Afghanistan by the end of this year and coming back from Germany over the next four years, they will be able to enjoy the peace of mind that comes from belonging to armed forces that have put a period of change and restructuring behind them and are focused on building their skills and capabilities for the future."

Chief of General Staff Sir Peter Wall

As has previously been the case, anyone currently serving on operations will be exempt, as will those serving on the date the exact redundancies are announced - expected to be mid-June.

There will be the option for people to transfer to areas of the military that need bolstering, although those opportunities will be limited.

And financial incentives will be offered to anyone leaving the regular force but willing to join the Reserves.

Shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker accused the Government of putting Britain's safety at risk.

He said: "Labour is clear about the need to reconfigure our armed forces after withdrawal from Afghanistan and the end of a presence in Germany. But we would never do anything that would leave Britain's security under threat.

Soldier currently deployed on operations will be exempt from the cuts

"The Government is letting down our armed forces and their families, and taking risks with our nation's safety."

Speaking ahead of the announcement, the Chief of the General Staff General Sir Peter Wall said this demonstrated the military has done what was asked of it:

He said: "It's the end of a period of significant uncertainty, albeit the relatively small number affected in this final tranche who will get our particular attention in making sure that they are fairly treated and support their transition to civilian life.

"This actually draws a line and we are now concentrating on drawing in the right talent to populate the future Army structure which is all about our operational readiness for future challenges."

It was originally thought as many as 5,000 could be made redundant in this round.

However, the number is significantly smaller, in part due to problems with recruitment meaning that not so many jobs need to go.

"The defence review of 2010 set very clearly the requirements of defence going into the future," explained Major General David Cullen, Assistant Chief of the General Staff.

"We certainly don't need any further redundancies to achieve that target and to deliver the policy outputs that are required of us."

Earlier this month the military launched another recruitment campaign - the third in the space of just a year.

It is a response to inadequate recruiting figures, and a flawed recruitment process, described by one senior military source as being "clunky".

In the case of the Army Reserve, there are now fewer soldiers than six months ago.

However, the MoD is confident that many of the problems have been ironed out.

The number of staff in the national recruiting centre has been almost doubled and there is a simplified online application process.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Military Cuts: 1,500 Personnel To Lose Jobs

Dengan url

http://serverkecil.blogspot.com/2014/01/military-cuts-1500-personnel-to-lose.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Military Cuts: 1,500 Personnel To Lose Jobs

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Military Cuts: 1,500 Personnel To Lose Jobs

sebagai sumbernya