Royal Regiment of Scotland, Scottish Division, Army

The Herald
Editorial Comment
December 26 2005

The omens are not looking good for a launch of the controversial Royal Regiment of Scotland with a set of stirring tunes on the pipes and drums. Unless there is an unexpected upturn in the recruiting fortunes of the existing Scottish Division, a dirge-like pibroch might be more appropriate when the regiment comes into being in March.

Pessimism is not founded on the merits or otherwise of the new regiment, which is aimed at producing a cost-effective, leaner, meaner and more mobile fighting and peace-keeping machine. The jury must remain out on whether the re-organisation is the right thing to do until the new regiment has proved itself (if it can) against these and other aims, which include delivering a career and family-friendly force.

It does not require the sleuthing skills of an intelligence officer to know that the merger of Scotland's six single-battalion regiments into a super-regiment of five is unpopular among Scottish soldiers and in the areas where they traditionally recruit. There is widespread concern that the super-regiment will swallow up the traditions, histories and tangible symbols of the individual regiments – potent threads to tangle with in the tribal setting of Scotland's armed forces.

There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the restructuring is having an adverse effect on recruitment, the last thing the Army needs in times that are already lean for persuading young Scots to don a uniform. As The Herald reports today, the six existing units are nearly 470 men below strength. The shortfall is equivalent to almost a battalion in its own right. In addition, the Army has reached only 50% of its annual target figure for new recruits. It has only three months left to meet the 2005-6 goal. The Army has invested heavily in advertising and other initiatives to boost recruitment, but the target looks insurmountable.

It is not as if the armed forces or the Westminster government can afford the consequences of depletion on this potential scale. British troops remain fully engaged in Iraq. Up to 3000 are due to be sent to Afghanistan in May next year to assume command of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. British troops are at present deployed in more than 80 countries.

The consequences of over-stretch have already been felt in shorter breaks between tours of duty and deploying troops out of the role for which they were trained. These factors must also have had an impact on recruitment, as have high employment and the fall-out from the Deepcut barracks' deaths. The consequence is that the Army is facing its worst recruitment crisis since the demise of national service. Unless addressed, Britain's global commitments will be increasingly difficult to meet, the burden on serving soldiers will be heavier and the Army will become an even less attractive career option.

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