[NYTr] UK troop reserves 'almost gone'

[nytr at olm.blythe-systems.com]

BBC - Jul 21, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/6909550.stm

UK troop reserves 'almost gone'

The head of the Army has warned that British troops are so stretched 
that the nation's military reserves are "almost non-existent".

In the memo, leaked to the Daily Telegraph, General Sir Richard Dannatt 
said the Army was undermanned because of operations in Afghanistan and
Iraq.

He also said vital equipment was being used "at the edge of
sustainability".

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said the forces were working 
hard but the current situation was "manageable".

General Dannatt also said the Army has "almost no capability to react
to the unexpected".

He said: "It is difficult to predict the long-term effect of this level 
of pressure on people. It is critical that we improve manning as
quickly as we can."

There is reportedly just one battalion of 500 troops, called the 
Spearhead Lead Element, available to be used in an emergency, such as a 
major domestic terrorist attack or a rapid deployment overseas.

Revisit planning

The document also said that Britain's second back-up unit, the Airborne 
Task Force, which is formed around the Parachute Regiment, could not 
deploy fully.

It blamed this on "shortages in manpower, equipment and stocks".

The MoD conceded that if "operations continue at this pace, we will
have to revisit our planning assumptions".

The spokesman added: "In recent months, we have drawn down our force 
levels in a number of operations.

"The Armed Forces' mission in Northern Ireland will end on 31 July; we 
withdrew the bulk of our forces from Bosnia-Herzegovina earlier this 
year and... we will reduce further our force levels in Iraq by 500.

    It is critical that we improve manning as quickly as we can
General Sir Richard Dannatt

"We are certainly not complacent about the longer term implications, 
which we are acutely aware of and are addressing."

Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said the lack of reserves was 
"an appalling situation and damning indictment" of the way the 
government handled the Services.

"They are being asked to carry out tasks for which they are neither 
funded or equipped for. There is an urgent need to review our strategic 
approach because we cannot continue over-stretching our Forces."

In October General Dannatt said that the presence of UK armed forces in 
Iraq "exacerbates the security problems" and they should "get out some 
time soon".

He also said that initial planning for the post-war period had been
poor.

) BBC MMVII