ARmy Rumour SErvice

Those joining now will have to wait for their pension. Brown saw to that. He had had his beady eye on the Force's pensions for some time and it was one of the first indicators of how he felt about us. So, you no longer get your monthly pension at the end of your 22yrs. But I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for the Tories to change anything as and when they get into power.

I don't see anything changing until such time as the shortage of troops means we simply can't deploy. The sign off rate will be the tipping point. With people now going on 3rd and 4th tours, Cpls and Sgts with young families will be quitting in increasingly large numbers and that experience takes years and years to replace. You'll end up with an Army that has no one to actually run it, which will leave the Country simply defenceless. It may seem unlikely but should some one decide to take advantage who's going to be there to stop them? No bloody politician thats for sure.

Originally Posted by All_I_Want

Originally Posted by oldbaldy

I agree but there comes a time when it is difficult to justify getting out.
For a soldier once he/she goes past the 12 year point the temptation to hang on till 22 & a pension becomes greater as the years progress.

Wait till the new pension scheme kicks in, this will not encourage anyone to stay after 12.

I agree with that as well!

I'd dearly love to see any party (I don't care which) resurrect National Service. I wonder if any amongst them have actually considered it?

Originally Posted by Ord_Sgt

I don't see anything changing until such time as the shortage of troops means we simply can't deploy. The sign off rate will be the tipping point. With people now going on 3rd and 4th tours, Cpls and Sgts with young families will be quitting in increasingly large numbers and that experience takes years and years to replace. You'll end up with an Army that has no one to actually run it, which will leave the Country simply defenceless. It may seem unlikely but should some one decide to take advantage who's going to be there to stop them? No bloody politician thats for sure.

And don't forget the impact this is having on the TA as well...

MSR

There are still plenty of people out there (such as myself) who are willing to serve but can't for whatever reason. My own personal reason is that my left and right eyes are the wrong way round. My left eye meets the visual standard required for the right eye and vice versa but because the SA80A2 can only be used on the right shoulder I'm buggered (my right eye is the worse one). Theres no way i'm the only one either. I've not looked into it that much but I bet theres other instances where accommodating people who are at the minute 'unfit' would allow a lot of people to apply.

That said there has to be a line between man power and effectiveness. Using my example, If given a weapon that could be used from both shoulders, I don't believe i'd be a hinderance at all - after all there is people in the army just now with the same eyesight as me, just with the vision in the left and right eye swapped. I don't know about you but I don't walk about with one eye closed.


edit: i'm not suggesting getting rid of the SA80A2 by the way, just maybe throwing another weapon into wider circulation?

As an ex-squaddie, I look back on my time in the forces generally very favourably. Now as a teacher I’ve talked to my pupils about my experiences and suggested to some that the forces could be a good move for them. This morning, though, I’m having second thoughts. Half the forces think about leaving and, having listened to a call-in on 5Live, I think that conditions are even worse than when I PVRed in 1991. Shitty accommodation, missing or faulty kit, continual deployment. Would I really want to subject my school-leavers to that? I don’t think so.

Man up and grow a set, they'll love it!