Army facing 'decline' in recruits

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The Army is facing a decline in recruitment north of the border, figures given to BBC Scotland reveal.

The figures show that the numbers of Scots enlisting have fallen by 30% from the level five years ago.

The drop coincided with the run up to the Iraq War, but the Army denied there was a recruitment crisis.

In 2002/03, the year before the Iraq war, 2,346 people in Scotland enlisted in the Army. During 2006/07 that number had fallen to 1,617.

The figures, given to BBC Scotland's Politics Show, included those who enlisted to serve in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, as well as those in regiments outwith Scotland.

There is certainly not a crisis in Army recruiting Brigadier David Allfrey

Ongoing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan and the higher number of young people going into higher education have both been cited as reasons for the drop.

First Minister Alex Salmond claimed the move by the Westminster government to a single Army regiment in Scotland was another, claiming it had "undercut" the recruitment campaign.

"That regimental loyalty across Scotland of the six regiments to particular areas of Scotland was one of the great incentives of recruitment," he said.

Employment competition

However, Brigadier David Allfrey, head of army recruitment strategy in Scotland, said the statistics were encouraging.

He added that the Army was providing a "healthy" 10% of its make-up from Scotland.

Despite the declining trend in figures, total infantry numbers enlisting in the Royal Regiment of Scotland rose to 533 in 2006/07, compared to 519 the previous year.

Alan Alstead, a former commander with the 51st Highland Brigade, urged the government to consider the contact it currently had with its armed services.

"It's all very well suddenly saying 'we'll send the Army here, we'll send the Army there', but if they're not looked after properly in peacetime, they can't do a good job in war," he said.

Ronnie Smith, of Scotland's largest teaching union, the EIS, also raised concern that Army visits to schools were going beyond giving advice and information.

He said: "They run all kinds of activities that are designed to persuade people to pursue a career."

Responding to the concerns, Brigadier Allfrey said: "There is certainly not a crisis in Army recruiting. Traditionally, Scotland has delivered rather more than its demographic would suggest."

He added that the Army had to compete with other areas to gain the interest of young people looking for employment, and said it only visited schools on invitation.