I have to tell you EVERYTHING you have highlighted was happening 30 yrs ago and before, part of the reason I left on Phase 2 redundancy in 93. We bought our own kit , bergens, smocks boots (We even bought our own desert boots in 90//91. ) Half of the vehicles were older than the guys using them ! When they brought in the Hi Leg combat boot they gave them to the ARTY to trial !! We used to give our slopjockeys a hard time but I went back to our Corps depot for a reunion some years after I got out. The accommodation was desperate, the good was garbage (Civvi cooks) WORSE than it had been in basic training !!

I served in the Army in the 80s when it was 150k strong. Fantastic pension, accommodation and food cheap straight out of your wages. The exercises were brilliant, adventure training was fantastic. To be fair the kit was crap boots webbing etc but the weapon was better. I left in the 90s and things were already starting to go down hill. Disbanded regiments, cut backs etc. All the points you have mentioned are spot on and very relevant I know because it's exactly what my nephew has told me about who's currently serving and has done for 20 + years. It saddens me as an ex squaddie to see this happen to the Army.

Totally agree with everything you said. I was with the TA a few years with 'Regular ARMY Instructors' and served with people from all walks of life but what we had was tremendous enthusiasm that I found missing in the regular service. Joined the RAF because I had technical qualifications to jump a few ranks, (not a good idea.) The Recruiting Office sold me such a bunch of outright lies and omissions, wonderful things that you 'could be' or "would have a chance to...." You only got to play the promised sport unless you were good enough to represent the Air Force. I was hoping life would get better but it didn't! Most of the blokes didn't want to be there, discipline was slack and once out of training you take all the shortcuts you liked as well as developing a hatred of Officers and civilians - "That Civi Bas**** in the stores". Military Chefs though, terrific grub as much as you could eat. I bought myself out after Three years and not even my own Officer asked why I wanted to leave!! I had been a Weapons Technician and the only related 'job' was to run the village Firework display.

I served from 99-2006 I agree with everything your saying. Only problem is none of it will happen. Government ain’t interested. Civilian contracts make money for people who are in charge. Remove the contracts removes they’re back handers.

One of the reasons i left was pay as you dine. Its kind of clever and sly under nourish the men not going to be optimal fighting men and women. Your right about a lot of this but you got to think bigger picture why its happened who's controlling the big picture

Brilliant video! Your video gave me a vastly better understanding of issues in the military than media reports. The detailing of how the camaraderie built on going away together, training, team building, getting drunk together has been replaced with a culture of young soldiers staying in their rooms is really revealing. And there’s an absurdity about wondering about whether to put an extra bowl of pasta on your canteen account card after a day of training for warfare. Sounds like much of the fun has been bean-counted out, to be expected it affects morale and retention. On the plus side, the time is right for improvement and increased funding.

You made some really solid points, I couldn't agree more. Im on termination leave right now after 8 years in the regular army and I am just saddened by the state it's in. I want to want to be in the army but i just cant see it getting any better until the next big conflict when theres political reason to make it better. They dont care about the blokes and the kit, food, exercises are shocking.

I left after 15 years, couple of operational tours under my belt and what I saw In the end was horrendous. Yes the foods dire, the accommodation isn’t great but it is cheap so I can deal with that. And tbh I will say that money is good lots of disposable income - to save!!!!! I wanted promotion and was recommended 3 years in a row for sgt (Cpl 7 years) even got recommended two ranks up still didn’t come off the promotion board. I saw “others” (currently in the media) promote who had done less time, no tours, who couldn’t even pass fitness tests or were downgraded and couldn’t deploy. To top it off I wanted and got recommended for a technical posting then got recruiting. I won’t even say what was said on my SJAR along the lines of “you are literally the step kid no one wants”…… Not even a handshake or thanks for your hard work, wasn’t expecting a medal but Jesus no appreciation what so ever. My “career” became mundane, I became stagnant with no progression, courses got cancelled and I was fed up of the same environment and exercises. I will say that I’m one of a few who wanted a full career and still see the forces as an excellent career path, it just didn’t happen for me. Retention needs sorting as much as recruitment.

I joined the Army on 04/04/1974 the food and accommodation was taken out monthly the food was phenomenal, I finished Royal Irish 31/10/1993 I then joined the reserves 01/11/1993 150RLC in Hull that’s when I was getting pay as you go the food was absolutely crap and being charged through the nose was crazy I finished 22/12/2022.

I applied initially for the Royal Marines and then later the army, both times I was classed as PMU. It’s out of my hands and I’m sure they have their reasons but I play Rugby to a good standard, do BJJ 2x per week and CrossFit also. This is also a big reason why numbers are way down. Not to mention that no one wants to fight for a Gov’t that doesn’t represent them. This Gov’t hates me for being a straight white male, let’s be honest here. I’m not willing to die for them

When the reduncies were happening from 2010, there were alot of us that were forced to leave to cut the numbers. I was one of them. I only had slightly over 5 years left to complete my full career, no way was I going to leave and give up my life-long ambition of completing a full Military service. I had that taken away from me with a pittance payment and a pension that was nowhere near half my salary., I wish it was. I was forced to leave in 2013. With the recent reports that the government may need to recruit 'Dad's Army' style, there is no way that I would re-joining after the way I was treated. Besides there is nothing left to fight for. This country is now lost and is not the country that I joined up to fight for. I like to think that I have patriotic views (nothing malicious) which in today's Army would see me in Colchester and/or kicked out anyway. I wouldn't want to be compromised by a fellow soldier drinking dirty water from a steam before preying whilst on patrol, leaving the rest of the section to stand there like sitting ducks, before getting motored or shot at by a sniper. I don't want 'this is belonging', I want 'Be The Best'. Up to being made redundant, I had served 18 years exemplary service, completed 7 operational tours. I was an experienced soldier, yet somehow some others that were not as experienced as me got to stay in, even though they were holding the rank they were not qualified to (due to re-trading) and were, to be honest, not that good. For some reason, I didn't get along with my last couple of bosses, that maybe had something to do with me not being a 'yes man'. I had courses cancelled, which meant that I could not progress as far as I would have liked, I stead I was the one they sent of op tour, without the rest of the regiment. That shows the level of trust I had with regards to my trade, I was a Chef for most of my career, with a 6 year stint in the middle which I also happened to be promoted up to the rank of Cpl. I was a qualified Cpl to my original trade of Chef when I re-traded back. Even when I received the LS&GC award, I wasn't given the reward to be taken into the Sgt's Mess to get in the lash, just like everyone else. I had to get back into my Chef whites and get back on shift. That level of disrespect also cuts a little. To top it all off; after serving 18 years, I would have expected slightly more than a drink in the bar on camp, with not even a word from the boss. It was tied in with somebody's birthday or something and I was just sat in the corner with my Wife. It was an embarrassment. We left after about an hour when it was clear there were no plans for a speech or anything else. It's strange as whenever others left, even if I didn't get on with them that great, I recognised their service and made a fuss. That sadly was not bestowed upon me. I think it goes without saying that I will not be joining the 'citizen army' at any point. I'll sit back with a coffee and watch all that entails.

My father in law served back in the day and said how amazing it was. Good pension, good work life, adventure training and exercises were worth whole and your chain of command actually wanted to help you out. I joined and got the opposite. Think there is 1 in 10 people that actually want to serve. The struggle isn't just recruitment, but also retention.

As someone who's recently left the Army (on termination leave), my main reasons for getting out were: -There were no opportunities to do my trade despite it being repeatedly promised. -There were no opportunities to deploy anywhere other than doing the same bone exercises/taskings in the UK/Germany for a few weeks every year. -I was driving halfway across the country to a place i have no connection to nor desire to be in for no real reason other than to sit there and do bone jobs. Thus, putting literally every other part of my life on hold for no good reason. -The Juniors being treated like primary school children. -I got hacked off with being labelled as a trouble maker because I said how it really was as opposed to putting on a fake grin and pretending everything's hunky dory. -Watching all my mates get out and get paid more (in the vast majority of cases but not all) and have none of the extracurricular bullshit and not having the army completely own your life.

10 years ago minimum wage was around 13k and a private soldiers wage was around 18k (about 40% more). As of April 2024 minimum wage will be over 24k and a privates salary starts at 24k whereas if a soldiers salary was to rise inline with how minimum wage has a private soldier should be earning over 33k. As far as salaries are concerned the salary just isn't worth it, there's very little incentive to join, pass basic and phase 2 training to earn what's essentially minimum wage. better off just going to college or university. Squaddies used to joke that "stacking shelves in Tesco pays more" which is now a reality... 24k starting salary just isn't enough in my opinion. The MoD should concentrate on retention instead of recruitment.

You nailed it with the pension. I signed the 05 pension and then they swapped me over to the 15 without my knowledge. I've been in 10 years and I have no incentive to stay the full 22.

Ack your point about PAYD but as nice as it is to have everyone pay for the food before they get paid, there is something to be said about the livers out who don’t use the cookhouse at all. That mini budget battered my mortgage, food inflation and the rest isn’t ideal… My budgets would get even tighter if you took an extra £127 out of my wage packet for something I gain no benefit from. Potentially an opt out scheme could accompany it for those who don’t use the facility or, for the benefit of the Army and country as a whole, a reduced rate as I do have the option to eat at least lunch but I likely wouldn’t use it

I am more than mentally and physicslly fit enough to enter service and the particular unit i want into are keen to have me the CSM said himself. I failed on my medical history due to a removed mis - disgnosis of ADHD, with 2 or more episodes of anxiety and substsnce misuse. I stopped smoking weed end of 2022. Snd any anxiety episodes i had were due to ADHD medication side effects. Appealing my application 2 times with solid evidence getting the disgnosus removed, got my own drug test done etc etc and then they gave me a PMU. The JSP 959 and Capita are ruining the recruitment!

You mentioned boots which almost cost us the Falklands war because squaddies going down with trench foot. It was stated at the time our lads were taking the boots off dead Argies who had far superior boots. All we had were DMS + puttees at the time. Total crap and not much improvment since...

Love this!

It's because the British Government don't like English people. Look at how veterens are treated, or patriots. This country would rather import a foreign workforce instead of look after its inhabitants.

The trouble with the British military is they ignore the mantra: if it ain’t broken don’t fix it”. Yet despite this they messed around and changed the recruitment agency, meals, and pensions. On top of this the drive for diversity at all cost has destroyed its core function of the military.

You are 💯% correct brother! It's not rocket science!

I served for 16 years, left with several life long injuries sadly. But imagine a country which is 74% white and 50% of that 74% is male, and thinking that recruiting that large section of the population should be reduced in favour of recruiting from the remaining 26%, half of whose are female and because of cultural and religious restrictions are not allowed to serve in the forces, so that means they are trying to recruit from only 13% of the population most of whose would never serve in the British armed forces because of cultural and religious factors, and the government wonders why they can’t recruit enough. Weird isn’t it.

you are 100 % correct,

It seems to be a pretty universial issue right now. Many militaries can't find recruits. US, UK, Russia, and China are some that come to mind.

BANG ON!

We haven’t rly got a pay rise as the scoff house and accommodation just upped the prices by 5% aswell, so we didn’t get a pay rise at all.

I was involved in Training and recruitment in the army and the problem I think is UK unemployment is very low when unemployment is high young me could not get a job and the forces was better than the dole the other problem we have is we have had families who have never had ex servicemen who joined up and would pass down to there sons info from serving in the forces I also think a huge error was made when recruiting offices closed on the high St of the UK and given to Capita the army is so small now that its has got a lot of pressure to cover all the jobs asked of it I left in 1993 so i cant comment on how soldiers are treated But I will say this I told my son not to join up and learn a trade and stay at home I have two grandchildren who i have advised not to join up My own family has always served back to 1870 and today i dont think its worth joining up after the way I was treated and made redundant in 1993 and i know i will not be alone in my feelings about the MOD

Pay as you dine should be scrapped. Food shouldn't be for profit it should be subsidied.

In my Regiment PAYD was commonly known as "Save as you starve"

i was in in the late 60's squaddies are mistreated as they always have been no pensions [that i remember] in my day the job is to kill everything else is secondary REspect

True. All of it true 👍

Yes these are all valid problems and there is a hell of a lot more to boot but these problems only exist due to the fact that the present selection for promotion is based on toeing the line and not leading. Who is going to stick their neck out if they will be marked as a troublemaker by people who continue to climb the ladder on a sinking ship. If the chain of command and leadership in the British army is the best in the world then surely the information being fed up is of the highest quality and informs decision makers of these issues so they can be acted on. After 21 years of service I have never seen this happen, someone gets food poisoning the CO eats on the cook house the next day. The most rehearsed of solutions you could imaging. Ultimately the army is fucked because of the leadership that governs it. There is no long term plan, do my 3/4 years in rank, promote and fuck it onto the next problem.

The army is the most critical service of all 3 services. And it blows my mind that it's the most abused.

When getting into the Forces takes between 6 months to a year, one source quotes 440 days, they don't want you!

Retention 1 year to get out is crazy, once you have made that decision you are never going back as well as those leaving being bad for morale., Reduce it to 3 months after your minimum time and people will hang around for longer as well as getting rid of the bad apples.

They outsourced the recruitment process, that was the beginning of the end.

Call up the cadets 😄

Make this man a general!

Britain has lost respect for its armed forces and now it's showing. Good luck with recruitment doing away with the army recruiting offices, army cookhouses not civvy diners. I served in the 80,s and it was poor pay and conditions back then but since then it seems to have got worse. It's a false economy bringing civvies in to do army jobs, soldiers don't get overtime payments civvies do. I was in 6 years and only did adventure training once, most of the time was shit tbh. No wonder kids don't want to join up now. I did two tours of NI and had to buy my own decent kit cos the army issue was shit, the cotton combats got ripped to shreds within a few days in South Armagh. Could never understand they spent all that money on training you but next to nothing on fitting you out with good gear. Good video and good appraisal of the army today. 😢

im not eligible due citizenship… heard that might change soon though

Awesome video and some very good information, I wasn't aware of a lot of this stuff like the three meals.. I thought that was still a thing 😬.. To address the issue of people who aren't even signing up to begin with.. the reason people like me won't sign up is simply because of illegal immigration. Every time I see a small boat with 30 fighting age muslim men aboard, it gives me 30 more reasons to not fight for this moral forsaken country

Loosen the rules on ink? A lot of people get inked (faces/hands) maybe if the army took these people when most other jobs don’t.

Don't forget they boot you out after 22 years, all that experience lost. You could get another 10 years out of that soldier in a non fighting capacity freeing up fighting age men and women for frontline employment.

with the food situation it really just seems like these MP's are trying to fix things that weren't broken. nothing new there I suppose.

Although not nearly to this extent, but there is a trend towards more privatization in Indian security apparatus as well. I feel like people that are fed up with state-run enterprise are swinging to the other extreme without realizing the pitfalls of privatization. UK offers a cautionary tale of what happens due to unbridled privatization, in both military and civilian spheres. I wish more Indians would pay attention to this. Right now, in India, things are easy because our entire nation is on the upswing, enjoying a demographic dividend that'll last another 20-30 years. And a fast economic growth all around. But these policies might fail when we peak in 2050-2060. Till then UK serves as a cautionary tale for us.

I did 10 years as a reservist and attempted sf selection. Had mates go to Iraq and Afghan and go on the circuit.I love the forces, but society has changed. Patriotism is a dirty word these days. Being fit to fight and having a beer with your oppos is foreign to many. My old man was Para and went operational with them. I’d take one for Team U.K. but we’re a dying 😏breed…

NO WRONG ! Not everybody joins the military for the pension !! In fact its probably the last thing on your mind ! What package ? You join up you do your time and you leave ! If you're lucky you leave with all your limbs and most of your sanity That's the deal there was no package.

Send this to Shapps

The food at Pirbright used to be nice. Now it just gives you constipation. C(r)apita have also captured the armed forces - they have no incentive to do well. Sigh*

Regardless of the arguments X related to the reasons why nobody in the case of the UK is joining up that we can all make or point out that we can all talk about one objective fact is clear. This is a failure and cost of a all volunteer system and in the long term and bigger picture for both a military, population and society for the nation that it's aimed is to protect and serve it's going to at some point like all the others will fail at the end. The national service act shouldn't had been removed but rather reformed and adjusted in active use and the military should've reorganize their system around it. Now if it does have to be force back you have to start all over again and the early years and decade or so will be crap to work with until after they get the kinks worked out. Meanwhile other countries have their system in their own way and they largely got no problem with what they got.

Why would you want to serve when a traffic warden is payed more than a Pte soldier? Equipment is bought through the buddy buddy system with back handers and fall apart and is not fit for purpose. Don't even get me going on the shit SA80 and the LSW (Long shit weapon).

I'm ex RN and left in 91. I never once came across civvy cooks on a military establishment. The foid was generally excellent with the odd exception when deployed to some shit hole where the flour would be full of bugs etc which found their way into the scran. That was no fault of the cooks though. My question is this - what are the military chefs doing when the civvies are cooking the scran? Please don't tell me they don't have them now in the Army and RAF because for obvious reasons, civvies can't operate in theatre. It's an absolute shit show for sure these days

I’m sure the government will create more unemployment black spots ware joining the forces is only option to get out..either that or national service ..

We would be annihilated before Captain Manwarings got his pistol out of his trousers

I served in the British Army in 1974-1982 and had all the things your saying no longer exist. Pretty sad. Served in the Canadian Forces 1983-1984, then 1989-2009. Whoever was in charge of the military at the top in Ottawa Canada was a plod. They would make changes to the CF based on what they saw in previous years with the British Army. Problem with that was the BA was switching out of things they finally realized was not work. It did not work in the CF either, they also started getting rid of support trades and military chefs, started switching to civvies and pay as you eat. Civvie support was none existent after hours and weekends. 💂‍♂️🪖⛑️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇦

Them cheap army boots killed my feet.

Its been happening in civi companies for ages and ages. Shameful it's happening in the military. Saving money is aĺl that the government cares about

Crikey, so true. I served in the early 1970’s. Nothing seems to have changed that much. More privatised civvie input today. Boots were crap, step in a puddle, your feet got soaked. DMS boots + puttees = joke. The food decent, so many missed breakfast though, even though we paid for it. The barracks were basic. Married staff went home at weekends & single stayed & got pissed. A bad dichotomy. Sad soldiers have to buy their own kit, especially during the Gulf wars etc,etc. Absolute disgrace. Nothing to do with wokery BS.

This is nothing new it’s been going on for over 30yrs…I was 16yr old boy soldier in 84…everyone was getting out after 3yrs of bullshido & poverty…most were trying to get out before their 3yrs…they we’re getting rid of old sweats before they could get full pension rights, but few young people we’re replacing them…now after 20yrs of dodgy warfare where we lost it’s no surprise people aren’t joining unless their desperate

The military is one of the basic pillars of a society/country and if it's neglected that society/country is doomed

Recruitment should be back in house. Get rid of capita.

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t the entirety of the British military personnel equal to, or slightly more, than the number of US Marines? If so, that’s pretty bad sign.

I know I'm a bit late with this post but after watching this I think I'm living in permanent Groundhog Day. Background: I joined up, Nov 75, after having been made redundant when a labour government closed down GB, I and my best mate spent our redundancies on a weekend on the piss, then promptly presented ourselves at the recruiting office, took the elementary tests, passed with flying colours (which apparently we may not be able to fly in the future) and were pencilled in as VMs in the REME within two weeks we were in the depot at Wokingham (not Woke-ing ham). Here we were issued with shirts which required shaving, vests that would not fit and baggy boxers that your cock fell out of. All kit was shit and the soles fell off your DMS after 10 miles. Your points about pay and pensions are good ones unfortunately they didn't affect me (1975 - 1997) as things cost less then and my pension was a good. Ref: Food and Accommodation these were all taken out at source, so only beer tokens appeared on your payslip. Chefs were good and I have one living next door to me ( always make friends with a cook and a storeman, you can't go wrong), social life was an alcoholic blast and rooms were 24 to a room in training an 4 per room in barracks. I still cannot believe they can't get kit right. I was on exercise in 78 when a team came round from.. Colchester I believe to ask what clothing and webbing we were using as most of us bout equipment from, Silverman's or the local German BV shop, They were astonished to see so much American, German, Dutch and even Italian and Austrian uniforms on display. The old adage is forever thus, the British army is the best trained and worst equipped in the world, oh and now the smallest!

So is everybody else, even China is having issues.

The "class/clahss" structure is still alive and kicking in the good old UK and is an utter disgrace to humanity. For example, let's consider the wonderful practice of "other" ranks serving their "superiors" and acting like servants/slaves in the Officers' Mess of many Guards" regiments. What is that all about ffs? I'm all for respect for officers but it should have be earned on merit and not granted because his/her old man had a few bob and had his kid educated at Eton or Harrow!

All as hou are is canen foder

I disagree with you on the food, from my recollection, PAYD was a reaction to popular demand from the troops. I would estimate that less than half of the people who paid for food actually turned up for meals. People 'dripped' about paying for food. Unfortunately we reap what we sow. I think you are off mark here. If you brought food back in, people would love it for a while and then drip about paying for food when they don't go to the cookhouse. The reason the food was so good, was 300 poeple were paying for it, but only 150 used to turn up and eat. I also think that most people don't join for the pension, as the majority don't complete a pensionable service. From my intake of 30ish. Only 2-3 of us completed over 22 years. And that was on the hallowed 75 pension. Accommodation,... a number of factors here... people wanting their own rooms and the human rights of having privacy. What killed the team was people going back to their individual rooms, locking the door and playing XBOX. Agree on the AT, the fun as gone. Agree, the procurement system is crap, but that is not unique to the military, it is just government wide. Commercially, the government get shafted... and it is their own fault.

Check out the transgender WO2 at 11 EOD Regt RLC at Didcot Oxon……..see if that meets with everyone’s ‘modern’ taste and idea of an army?

In the US we are witnessing the same thing. I don’t know… it’s like people aren’t as eager to serve their country like back when I joined. I’m not going to stereotype on purpose but it just seems like the younger generations have gotten so soft, so sensitive, so easily offended. I know it’s not all but their just not stepping up. Also, government is steadily taking away benefits and it seems more about politics than the wellbeing of the troops. Whatever it is it’s definitely a problem !

Whether the British public want to accept it or not, Britain needs a fairly large standing army. At least 130000 to 230000 troops. Bring back the regimental recruitment depots. That method of recruitment worked wonders in the past. Stop with this "diversity" rubbish! Let those who want to join the Army, join the Army. This is an Army with such a rich and proud history (with some regiments going back hundreds of years) that it is really heartbreaking to see what it has become. As for these civilian contractors, all I can say is give the Army back to the Army.

The man in charge of all this is the rising star (and we all saw the results of the last one, who backed Liz Truss for Christ's sake anyway?). Ah yes the man who had 5 jobs in less than 12 months: Transport Secretary - July 2019 to Sept 2022 Home Secretary - 19 Oct 2022 to 22 Oct 2022, only lasted 4 days at the 3rd most important job in government. Must've been shit at that then? Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary, 23 Oct 2022 to 6 Feb 2023 Energy Secretary, 7 Feb 2023 to 13 Aug 2023, couldn't handle 3 jobs, so they took Business and Strategy off him. So because he knows FA about Business or Strategy, on 31 Aug 2023 they make him Defence Secretary, so military contracts and long term planning go out the window! This is the man to lead our forces into oblivion.

Why would anyone want to fight for this country when it treats its British people so badly.

Army is to woke these days started with the wrac been disbanded in the 1992 let woman into the roles that they shouldn't be in not very pc these days but its the truth served from 1990 to 2003 one of the reason I left was because woman where getting away with shit men could not and morale drop

Wokery destroys everythimg. Why fight for an army that hates you?

Stop moaning, i joined up in 1971 our kit was made in 1945, same as compo rations. They tasted dreadful. Equipment started to improve because of the troubles. The accommodation at Regiment level was pretty basic in Tidworth but food, for me anyway was cooked by our own chef's was i think pretty good.

Chiefs won Super Bowl 58 yall. Crazy game dude.

I serve in the rifles as a reservist have bn for 3 years, I have no virtus body armour I've hat to buy my own webbing and pouches gloves and boots we've had guys come n go because of this also we have no 9mm to do pistol shooting , only spend one weekend on the field cuz my unit can't afford to pay for rat packs to feed us things are getting bad.