November
8, 2006: When an army has to send a lot of troops into action, personnel
shortages that were tolerable in peacetime, suddenly become emergencies. The
British Army has discovered this, after they found over a third of their troops
overseas in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. A government study
found 88 job categories where there were serious shortages, in some cases 70
percent (short of the number of people authorized.) The worst ones were in some
medical jobs. This is a world wide problem, for even in countries with national
health insurance (and highly regulated fees for medical professionals), a
doctor or nurse can still make more money as a civilian, rather than a
military, practitioner.
Nearly
all the shortages were in specialties that were also in great demand in the
civilian economy, or required long years of specialized training. Thus various
types of maintenance and repair personnel (vehicle and weapons mechanics) were
in short supply. There weren't enough chaplains, or nuclear engineers to keep
nuclear subs going when at sea.
Overall,
the British military is short about three percent of its authorized personnel
strength. The current shortages are made up by either calling up suitable
reservists (when available), or sending troops overseas more frequently. When
the troops are in Britain, you can get around some of the specialist shortages
by using civilians. But you can't do that often when the troops are in a combat
zone. And sending troops out more frequently causes more of them to get out of
the service.
The
solution is basically more money, to pay bonuses to attract, and keep, the
specialists. But even that may be difficult because an increasingly sedentary
population is physically unfit for military service. Currently, only about a
third of British 16 year olds are fit enough (especially when it comes to
weight) to meet military standards. It's been suggested that some chubby
recruits be allowed to join, with the hope that a vigorous military life will
slim the lads down. The matter is under discussion. Britain has had an
all-volunteer military for about half a century.
