SAGGING MORALE OF UK ARMY

Deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan are not only damaging the morale but also sparking an exodus of experienced officers from the British Army and Royal Air Force (RAF), according to a parliamentary report. The army, the navy, the RAF are not able to do what they need to be able to do because people are leaving and that is, of itself, a strong indication of a falling morale. Ministry of Defence figures show that last year 4.3 per cent of officers and 5.8 per cent of other ranks in the Army left early. The latter figure is nearly 1 per cent higher than normal. The MPs were also highly critical of the inability to recruit more people from ethnic minorities. On October 1 last year 5.9 per cent of Service personnel were from ethnic minorities, of which about 60 per cent from the Commonwealth. The Army chief has recently warned that engagement in “enduring” conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan was leaving the Armed Forces unprepared for emergencies at home like possible terrorist attacks.