Britain: Stretched military faces staffing shortage

[cal04]

Britain's military is short-staffed and struggling to retain and recruit troops, the National Audit Office said in a report on Friday.

The military has exceeded the maximum levels of deployment it was designed to handle in each year since 2001, forcing troops to deploy far more often than expected. Many troops are leaving because of the deployments' impact on family life.

The report could have political repercussions because opponents have accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of over-committing the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(snip)
Britain has about 7,200 troops in Iraq and the demands of war meant 14.5 percent of army soldiers were breaching "harmony guidelines", the military's own targets for rest between deployments, the report found.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1628072006

[wakeme2008]

1. Tony your boy is over here living the High Life and

meeting a lot of K-Street "friends"

maybe just maybe time to sign him UP.... :grr:

[SoftUnderbelly]

2. im not bloody surprised!

i had a friend join the royal marines shortly before sept 11th aged 17. 2 weeks after he finished basic training he was in afghanistan, after that he was sent to iraq. he got out as soon as he could. another friend is in the army and about to go to iraq for the second time. he is counting down the days until he can leave.