Half of Brit military ready to quit

Times:

Britain’s ability to sustain campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan was called into question last night as it emerged that almost half of all military personnel are ready to quit.

The first survey to assess attitudes across the Armed Forces reveals unprecedented levels of concern over equipment, morale and pay.

The research was conducted by the Ministry of Defence and involved more than 24,000 military personnel.

It found that the sense of overcommitment means that 47 per cent of soldiers and army officers think regularly of handing in their resignations.

Patrick Mercer, Conservative MP for Newark and a former commanding officer, said that the findings reflected the duress under which military personnel were operating. “I think the tempo of operations has produced such a level of stress on the families that it is no wonder so many are thinking of leaving,” he said.

The report highlights the pressures on the Armed Forces of enduring two medium-scale military campaigns simultaneously. Returning for second and third tours, particularly in Afghanistan where the Taleban are in resurgent mood, has had a significant impact on families.

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It is not the tempo so much as the inadequate numbers in the UK military. They have been cut back to unrealistic numbers for even defending the home islands much less their expeditionary work. There numbers are dwarfed by the size of the US forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan and this past week so a record number of reenlistments.

My visceral feeling based on reading the Brit papers for several years now is that their forces are under payed and not given first rate equipment and when they are injured they have to endure the horrors of rationed health care under the socialized medicine regime in the UK. I think that socialism has taken its toll on the Brit military in other ways as more money has been spent ont he sink holes of social programs than in supporting a strong military.