UK Territorial Army to be renamed, double in size and train with regular Army - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19940848[/url] [quote=BBC News][B]The Territorial Army would be renamed the Army Reserve under plans unveiled by Defence Secretary Philip Hammond.[/B] He told the BBC legislation would be needed for the change, which would also see territorials get regular Army kit, and train with full-time forces. As part of the recent defence review, the numbers of regular soldiers is set to fall from 102,000 to 82,000, while reservists will double to 30,000. He said the reservists would become an "integral part" of the Army. Mr Hammond said he hoped that a number of those leaving the slimmed down regular forces would join the reserves and "help change the ethos". Asked on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show if he was attempting to get an "army on the cheap", Mr Hammond said cutting the size of the regular army was "unfortunately one of the steps we had to take to rebalance the defence budget". [B]'Makes sense'[/B] He said that it made sense for many of the support functions, like logistics, to be done by reservists because there was not such a great demand for them during peacetime. The defence secretary said he wanted to see a name change - "in my head they are the Army Reserve, an integral part of the regular Army" - but added that the change would need to be approved by Parliament. TA soldiers usually have full-time or part-time jobs and attend training sessions in their own free time. They are paid about £35 a day for each session. They have to commit to between 19 and 27 training days a year and if they meet this commitment they get a tax-free lump sum called a bounty, which ranges from £424 to £2,098. Travel to and from their units is also subsidised and they do not have to pay towards their kit. Britain has had a reserve of part-time or retired soldiers - often known as yeomanry - since the Middle Ages but the system was only regularised in 1907 with the passing of legislation creating a Territorial Force. It was mobilised just before World War I and its soldiers fought alongside regular soldiers in the trenches of northern France. In 1920 it became the Territorial Army and in 1939 it was doubled in size as war clouds approached again. The TA withered away during the 1960s but in 1971 it was reformed and expanded although its role remained unclear until the 1998 Strategic Defence Review. As the regular Army became increasingly stretched in the early 21st century the TA became more important and 6,900 TA soldiers were mobilised for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In recent years it has also supported regular troops in Afghanistan and the Balkans.[/quote]

Makes sense I guess.

Fair enough, seems to be going back to the idea of the British Expeditionary Force that we had around World War 1, just some well trained soldiers ready in case anything kicked off as oppossed to a full sized army for invasions and shit and just more for defence and the like. No complaints, there's no boogeyman any more so we really don't need a giant standing army anymore.

Next big war is going to be won by robots anyway.

Well I guess my friends plan of joining the regulars has gone down the drain then.

I welcome this, we can't afford a large regular army in this economic climate. If they do this correctly, the army could even improve as a result.

Now maybe our politicians over here in the US will take this as an examp -- lol, wait what am I saying...

Oh god, we're going to fight the french again. [editline]14th October 2012[/editline] We haven't done it in ages, I'm amazed we haven't done it to get it out of our system.

We really need this. It's not like we have a big threat right now. And we cannot support a large army anymore.

It would be better if we just put everyone into national service, then paid their tuition fees after they've served their time. Then used the army to improve homeland security and use them for engineering projects and such and better improve this country.

[QUOTE=Ereunity;38033926]It would be better if we just put everyone into national service, then paid their tuition fees after they've served their time. Then used the army to improve homeland security and use them for engineering projects and such and better improve this country.[/QUOTE] We'll give our young people a comprehensive education, to make up for their comprehensive education!

reserves are good yes except when they get into combat and its like generation kill :(

[QUOTE=Ereunity;38033926]It would be better if we just put everyone into national service, then paid their tuition fees after they've served their time. Then used the army to improve homeland security and use them for engineering projects and such and better improve this country.[/QUOTE] The Army don't want National Service back, it doesn't solve anything, and trying to get people to do stuff they don't want to ends up wasting time and resources - hence why they scrapped it in the first place. The regulars aren't going to like this either. Not only are they and their mates at risk of loosing their jobs, but they're not fans of the TA either (hence the nickname 'STABs' for them - Stupid TA Bastards).

[QUOTE=GrizzlyBear;38033123]We really need this. It's not like we have a big threat right now. And we cannot support a large army anymore.[/QUOTE] That's always the determining factor. To field an army it takes a huge amount of support. Then when the troops get back home, suffering from various problems from PTSD to missing limbs, health care support is a part of it. I think here in the US we will have to cut back, no matter what anyone wants. Even the Republican approach, which is to cut everything else first before even thinking about Defense spending, can't stop it. The revenue just isn't there, and it's a tough sell to tell people "It's wrong to give everyone healthcare...oh by the way, we need more tanks".

[QUOTE=redhaven;38035681]We'll give our young people a comprehensive education, to make up for their comprehensive education![/QUOTE] I love that scene [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX_d_vMKswE[/media]

His name made me think of Stargate. [img]http://selmak.org/pages/136/her02.jpg[/img]