Further memorandum from the Ministry of
Defence
Further information requested following the
evidence session with General Sir Mike Jackson KCB, CBE, DSO ADC
Gen, Chief of the General Staff on 3 November 2004.[7]
Q242. How many of the 2,500 posts freed
up by the reorganisation of the infantry will be used to strengthen
each of the areas identified in Future Capabilities?
As the Secretary of State announced on 16 December,
some 2,400 posts will be redeployed across the Army's force structure
as a result of the reduction in number of infantry battalions.
We will be reinvesting in trade groups that have been in high
demand such as engineers, logisticians and intelligence personnel.
Over the coming years we intend to create:
— an additional commando engineer regiment
which will enhance the support provided to 3 Commando Brigade.
It will provide more engineering capacity, a planning cell and
improved command and control capability. This enhancement will
bring 3 Commando Brigade in to line with all the other brigades—who
each have a dedicated Engineer Regiment;
— a new port and maritime squadron
which will enhance the military port at Marchwood and the Sea
Ports of Disembarkation capacity on expeditionary operations.
It will also improve tour intervals in this very specialised logistic
unit;
— an additional strategic communications
unit which will improve the level of signals support available
for expeditionary operations.
— provide a new logistic support regiment
to each deployable brigade which will provide integral combat
service support for medium scale operations;
— creating new sub-units enhancing
the capabilities such as unmanned aerial vehicle, surveillance
and target acquisition, bomb disposal and vehicle maintenance
capabilities—all of which have been in great demand in recent
times.
The infantry will have 537 posts added back
to make units more robust and less dependent on backfilling. The
bulk of the add-backs will go into bolstering the Armoured infantry
and Light infantry battalions to ensure they are more robust and
resilient.
We are also developing a new unit to provide
dedicated support to Special Forces operations. The core of this
joint unit will be provided by personnel freed up by the reduction
in the size of the Parachute Regiment; but it will be a tri-Service
unit, trained, manned and equipped for its specialist task.
We are not yet in a position to say precisely
how many posts will be re-invested in which capability. The Army
are continuing to work on this detail and I hope that the final
establishments will be approved in the next few weeks.
Q333. How is recruitment for the Territorial
Army currently managed and will that change under the Future Capabilities
proposals?
TA recruiting involves all three Army Top Level
Budget holders: the Commander in Chief Land Command (CinC LAND),
the Adjutant General (AG), the General Officer Commanding Northern
Ireland (GOC NI)—and the Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations,
all of whom co-operate within an integrated arrangement that embeds
the TA into the Army Recruiting Management Structure.
There are no established recruiting staff or
offices for the TA, hence each TA unit, sub-unit and TA Centre
recruits its own members. The Independent TA—which comprises
regional units organised into four sub-groups that correspond
to the Regular Army trade areas of Combat, Engineering, IT/Communications
and Logistics—tend to recruit locally. On the other hand,
Specialist TA units—those that provide a unique capability
that cannot be generated in the Regular Army[8]—recruit
nationally. The Commander Regional Forces at HQ LAND is responsible
to the Commander in Chief for setting global recruiting targets
and priorities for the TA. These are cascaded down the LAND and
Northern Ireland chains of command to unit level.
RESPONSIBILITIES
AND MECHANISMS
(a) AG. Working within the Army Training
and Recruiting Agency, the Commander Recruiting Group is responsible
to Commander Regional Forces at HQ LAND for conducting all TA
recruit marketing. He provides:
— Resources for all TA marketing activity.
— Provide TA national marketing.
— Supervision of the delivery of regional
marketing through the Reserve Forces and Cadets Associations.
— Handling national enquirer responses.
(b) Reserve Forces and Cadets Association. Regional
Secretaries are responsible to regional brigade commanders for
the delivery of regional marketing and TA Public Relations. They
carry out the following:
— Plan, conduct and allocate resources
for all regional recruit marketing.
— Pass national recruit enquirer's
details to local units.
— Manage all regional enquiries.
(c) LAND. Commander Regional Forces is responsible
for supporting TA recruiting by:
— Setting TA recruiting priorities
and targets.
— Directing General Officers Commanding
(of the non-operational divisions) and their Brigade Commanders
in the conduct of TA recruiting operations;
— Directing Regional Brigade Commanders
to co-ordinate all recruiting activity within their geographical
administrative area;
— General Officer Commanding Theatre
Troops within LAND is responsible to Commander Regional Forces
for ensuring that all Specialist TA regional activity is co-ordinated
through the Regional Co-ordination Committee.
(d) Commanding Officers and Commanders of
Central Volunteer Headquarters. Unit commanders are responsible
to their formation commanders for recruiting for their units.
Detailed tasks are as follows:
— Plan and conduct all recruiting activity
for their units, to meet In-Year recruiting targets as directed
by their operational chain of command.
— Commanding Officers plan and conduct
national Specialist TA marketing and regional events. They select
Professionally Qualified Officers.
— Process potential recruits, from
initial enquiry through enlistment to trained soldier.
(e) Northern Ireland. HQ Northern Ireland
has delegated responsibility for TA recruiting to 107 (Ulster)
Brigade who, whilst not in the LAND chain of command, take TA
recruiting direction from Commander Regional Forces.
TA recruiting is conducted at unit level, directed
through the chain of command. TA units are supported with marketing
and enquiry handling: nationally from Recruiting Group and locally
from the Reserve Forces and Cadets Association. The latter act
as a "local" agent for Commander Recruiting Group, conforming
to the national TA Brand image and following recruiting priorities
as set by Commander Regional Forces.
There are no plans to change the way TA recruitment
is currently managed.
Q351. A note on the estimated cost of
implications (a) in the short term in connection with ending the
arms plot and (b) in the longer term of the administration of
the new system.
There are three main costs associated with Arms
Plotting:
— Re-location costs: On average (per
battalion, per move) costs associated with moving are approximately
£1.5 million
— Allowance and posting associated
costs: On average (per battalion, per move) allowance and posting
associated costs are approximately £2 million.
— Training costs: these are of course
dependent on which role a battalion is taking on. The most substantial
costs are associated with converting to Armoured and Mechanised
roles.
— For an infantry battalion converting
from Light to Armoured, training costs are approximately £3.2
million.
— For an infantry battalion converting
from Light to Mechanised, training costs are approximately £0.5
million.
With the end of the arms plot, infantry battalions
will be fixed by role and largely by location, and the Army will
move towards a system of individual posting. However, there may
continue to be roles and locations that may require the continuation
of the rotation of whole units; these will need to be considered
on an individual basis in line with out intent to provide more
individual and family stability.
While it is clear that arms plotting is an expensive
business, especially considering as many as 11 arms plot can occur
in one year, the resource implications of the replacement system
of individual posting have yet to be fully worked through.
PROPOSALS FOR
THE FUTURE
OF THE
SCOTTISH REGIMENTS
The Committee asked for General Jackson's comments
on the proposals put forward by the Council of Scottish Colonels
for restructuring the Scottish Division. The Secretary of State
has now announced that the 5 Scottish Infantry Battalions will
be amalgamated into a single regiment that will be known as the
Royal Regiment of Scotland and that the reduction will be achieved
through an amalgamation of the Royal Scots and the King's Own
Scottish Borderers. This decision is in line with the recommendation
made by the Scottish Colonels. The Chief of General Staff and
his ECAB colleagues believed that the proposals were sound.
GRAPHS
In the margins of the evidence session, CGS
undertook to provide the Committee with a graphic analysis of
the manning statistics with which he and his ECAB colleagues had
been working. Accordingly, a graph that illustrates moving average
trend lines compiled from the data already supplied to the Committee.[9]
7 Ev 38-56 Back
8
The Military Provost Service-who specialise in Prisoner of War
handling-is an example of a Specialist TA Unit. Back
9
Ev Back
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