:army: Just listening to BBC radio news as I was emerging from sleep (such as it was) this morning. According to the BeeB, the UK Government’s policy of “rationalizing” the British Army is in trouble. The idea was that the professional standing Army would be “rationalized” (i.e. cut down to the bone), with the deficit made up by the recruitment of additional part-time soldiers to the Territorial Army (the part-time reserve force, traditionally composed of units adjunct to standing army units, and applied to local defence within Britain - a successor to the old “Yeomanry” and “Militia”). This plan was doomed to fail. Not surprisingly, the fresh-faced youth of Britain were unenthused by the offering - signing up to a commitment that would require them to disrupt their “lives” on social media and gaming sites, and might propel them, with little warning and insufficient training, into some sandy Hell-hole where they would be shot at by (better-trained) former schoolmates now wearing turbans. The TA recruitment drive has gone so badly that the age limit for recruitment has been raised to 52 (!). One recruiting officer told a BBC reporter that the response to the efforts of himself and his colleagues was so poor that they would “take anybody” at this stage.
Where the British Government will go with this from here will be interesting to see. What will they do ? Raise the qualifying age even further ? Hold on - maybe a solution is at hand … Yours from the Chelsea Hospital, JR.
