One in eight troops ‘unfit for purpose’

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

One in eight troops ‘unfit for purpose’

Exclusive by IAN BRUCE, Defence Correspondent

June 23, 2008

One in eight of the Royal Regiment of Scotland's soldiers is injured, sick or has family problems which mean they cannot be deployed on combat operations, The Herald can reveal.

The 12.8% "unfit for purpose" rating is one of the highest across the Army's infantry units, where the numbers failing to reach the required standards for frontline service is close to 10%.

Military sources say the increasing levels of long-term sickness or persistent injury are directly attributable to overstretch and repeated, punishing tours of duty without sufficient time for recovery in between.

Figures obtained from the Ministry of Defence also show that the RRS, formed two years ago from the controversial merger of six historic units, is already 432 men short of required "bayonet strength" even before illness or injuries come into play.

While the regiment's five regular battalions should be able to field 3148 trained soldiers, there are only 2716 in its ranks. Of these, 350 - the equivalent of more than three rifle companies - are "non-deployable" for various reasons.

The shortfalls have emerged at a time when high numbers of Scottish troops are either in action in Afghanistan or have just returned from Iraq.
Only the Black Watch have not deployed on operations recently, but the battalion is on standby for emergency service in Kosovo and is scheduled for six months in Afghanistan within the next year.

The Royal Highland Fusiliers and the Argylls are fighting in Helmand, although they arrived with a respective 12% and 8% of their soldiers left in the UK. A reinforced Warrior armoured infantry company from the Highlanders is also in Afghanistan. The Royal Scots Borderers have just done six months in Basra.

On MoD figures, the Highlanders are the worst-manned RRS battalion, with a shortfall of 118 soldiers, followed by the Royal Highland Fusiliers, who are 117 under strength. The Argylls are 94 men short, the Black Watch 65 and the Royal Scots Borderers 35.

The MoD said: "The RRS, in common with most of the Army's infantry, is below strength. But there are a sizeable number of recruits in the training pipeline."

Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP and former infantry commander, said: "The problem is that incessant operations are wearing down the troops' resilience. They are not being given the time between operational deployments to catch their breath, let alone to recover from the effects of exhaustion, illness, and wounds."


© All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

[source]