20,000 jobs to go in defence shake-up (Brits downsize armed services)

[Rose Siding]

Almost 20,000 military and civilian posts are to be cut in the biggest shake-up of the armed services for a generation, the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, announced today.
The RAF will bear the brunt of the cuts, losing around 7,500 jobs, with the navy facing cuts of up to 1,500 serving personnel.

The army will lose the equivalent of four infantry battalions - three from England and one from Scotland. The numbers of aircraft, tanks and ships will also be reduced.

Mr Hoon also announced the loss of 10,000 civilian support staff, and told the House of Commons that the changes would be completed by 2008.

He said the shake-up was necessary to ensure the military "has what it needs for the 21st century rather than what they have inherited from the 20th century".

Citing the benefits of the end of the cold war, he said British forces needed to be modernised to deal with terrorist insurgency and peacekeeping missions in diverse environments such as Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Kosovo.
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The defence secretary said a rise of £3.7bn in the defence budget was providing the investment necessary for the transformation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,11816,1265824,00.html