Fresh cuts in UK army anger senior ranks

The army has culled another 2,900 jobs in the latest cull of the British military amid warnings from the defense secretary Philip Hammand that there is “still some way to go” before the redundancy rounds can end.

More than a quarter of those leaving the army in this tranche are being forced out and the Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday it had not yet decided how it could reduce overall numbers to 82,000 – the target demanded by the cuts announced last year.

The RAF and navy have also had to shed staff, though not as
many as expected. The air force is to lose 730 personnel, and the navy 170, though both services believe that should be enough to prevent further job losses. The MoD said the total number of people being axed in this round was 3,800.

The cuts to the British military were set out in the 2010 strategic defence and security review, and revised last summer. The navy and the air force were each told to axe 5,000 staff, but the hardest hit was the army, which has to shrink by 19,000 before the end of the decade.

Hammond hinted last week that the army faced a major restructuring that is likely to lead battalions being axed, and historic regiments merged.

These reforms are expected to be announced shortly, and will
have a bearing on how the army will manage the next part of the redundancy program.

MOL/JR/HE

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