Young Soldier Recruitment

Young Soldiers (25 August 2019)

In the context of the recruitment of young soldiers and the operational limitations on their deployment, Charles Holden (Daily Telegraph 24 Aug) made this crucially accurate observation: “Many people under 18 have been failed by the educational system and the Army invariably rectifies this in a disciplined. Leading to worthwhile opportunities.”.

On 1 September 1972, under ROSLA (Raising Of School Leaving Age) the school leaving age in England and Wales was raised from 15 to 16 years. No doubt this change was introduced with the best of intentions but in a practical sense it condemned a raft of youngsters to yet another unwanted year in school or ‘failures’ as described by Charles. Up until that time the Army recruited 15 year old young men (yes – men only back then) for a two year training period in Junior Leader, Junior Soldier and Artificer Regiments; in such units those recruits, via sensitive discipline, not only completed their education for promotion for a full Army career and the basic elements of a Trade but also developed all-round societal skills such as playing a musical instrument or joining a PT Display Team that performed in village fetes etc.

ROSLA presented a challenge in that some Regiments decided that all the components of the existing curriculum were of equal value and opted to run it on in a compressed time-scale resulting in a less enjoyable experience for those young men. However, before and after 1972 these ‘Boys’ Regiments provided the vast majority of the Warrant Officers’ and Sergeants’ Messes; indeed many, quite rightly, were commissioned.

Then along came Options For Change in the early 1990s which allowed the Government to save money via savage, and often insensitively applied, Defence cuts.  As part of the ‘deception plan’ to make such cuts acceptable to the general public, the Government and the Chiefs of Staff combined to talk of ‘no loss of bayonets’. In order to enact that illusion the Army implemented a massive restructuring plan that fundamentally impacted on logistics (no acceptance there that an Army marches on its stomach!), medical support and the training organisation. So it is that the Junior Regiment organisation has now become a shadow of its former self. This is more than a pity in that not only in Army recruitment terms but also in denying a raft of young people the opportunity to benefit from a system that overcame their disinclination to enjoy school.