Get rid of Capita so there are enough recruits to train! they have not hit their target in the 10+ years they have had the contract. The drop out rate is terrible as the average time to join is 10 months!

Dear diary Corporal shouted at me today for bombing up my magazine backwards I need a cuddle with the padre 😂

MPs gave the Recruiting process to Capita, a French company who sleeps with every MP in Britain.

So everyone gets an Ipad to whistleblow when needed....got it!!😂

My grandfather in law was 15 when he tried to join, recruiter sussed him out and told him to walk three times around the block and try again and he was in. Ended retiring 40 years later a Lieutenant Colonel. I assure you if Capita was handling it he wouldve been stuck for years and just given up like thousands of recruits today, depriving Britain of an excellent soldier when the nation needed him most in WW2. The issue isnt standards as they used to be FAR lower, the issue is that recruits today are actively being prevented from even entering selection through the malicious incompetence of a private company loyal only to its shareholders instead of the nation that is entrusting them the future of its security. The British military should be handling its own recruitment full stop.

Pay the troops more - to get the large numbers we need.

Sounds like a children's school not a military training camp

When I joined, I was living in a B&B, I was essentially homeless, I needed the Army as I had no way out of the misery I had created for myself. The military gave me 2 things a future and a chance to prove myself. I dont know if this training is better or not, but it's of absolute importance that the military remains a beacon of hope for young men/women, not just another easy target.

As an old ex soldier, i want to make a comment, but it just might upset a few people, so i will shut up and reflect...

Absolutely pish! More deterioration of basic standers actually doing the young soldiers a disservice. They will crumble in combat. Start with problem No.1 Capit Recruitment its failed from day 1. Simplify the process and recruit more soldiers then take the best. Train hard fight easy!

times may have changed but the reality and consequences of war have not.... I joined the RM at 16 in 1982.... 54 started training and only 9 finished but we were ready to fight. The military should not change to accommodate cultural trends... a job in the military cannot be equated to a job in a Fortune 100 company

The job of the armed forces is to kill the enemy faster and in more numbers than the opposing side….its harsh but true! It needs people who embrace a challenge and endure hardship. This modern approach seems so weak. I went through guards depot in 89. We lost a lot of soldiers during the first few weeks but those that remained were mentally strong and physically fit. The armed forces way of life is hard and you have to be able cope. A harsh basic training gives you a solid foothold as what ever life throws at , can always look back to that and realise you’ve been through worse. I still do to this day!

Sounds like reducing requirements

What has happened to the armed forces 😢

I think this is a good initiative personally. Too many who have a soldier in them are rejected too early because their adjustment is slower. If the army persists with them they will get a soldier out of them; and remember they are always training throughout their army careers.

They need to change or increase the DAOR window. The window closes just as training starts to actually simulate real soldiering. Around week 14 or 15. Those that change their mind or are discovered to be unsuitable for the job are then stuck, and subsequently become total dead weight for the Army to carry until they either get medically discharged, kicked out for being unworkable or worse pass out and go to Batallion. The latter option made possible by crusty old officers who want to meet recruitment quotas rather than produce good soldiers. To deliver high quality training you need good quality recruits to take part. Not TikTok warriors who have been on the biff most of their Army career.

Train hard, fight easy

Just remember, this, lads . Train hard fight easy.

Woke army , will not bread warriors How can you say standards haven't changed

Pay the troops more for one, and make the recruiting better and faster and have face to face better and have better medical examiners 60% of all applications for the army are rejected because the medical examining is way to strict people are denied for the tiniest of injuries no matter if it happened as a kid or recent and trying to prove you are fit for purpose to continue is a pain for people but not just that make the country worth fighting for again put the military budget up put the pay up and better living conditions for soldiers who live on the bases and alot more...

Regiments, Corps and Battalions are all commenting on the same issue with recruits out of training. They’re not fit or ready when they leave training. All are implementing training programs to retrain the trainees. Better identification or recruitment, remove EDI, increase the standards. Supplementally increase the wage in line with civilian standards and implement better benefits and perks for serving personnel. i.e discounted energy prices, fuel costs, access to higher education and finally but most importantly a true transitional training program that will enable a better future for service personnel into civilian life.

This will help alot of guys its good to see.

Given my first 4 are 2472......i dont know whether this makes me want to weep.........or puke.

An excellent initiative. A world away from my intro in 1966 which was tough even brutal by comparison but different times requires different approaches - as long as what it turned out at the end of it all is somebody who benefitted and enjoyed their training as much as I did (no matter how many kicks up the arse/whacks/around the head/beastings on the square or in the gym it took to drum the fun into me!) I was fifteen and thrived on it, the harsher it was the more fun it became. A few dropped out, most learned to cope/laugh their way through it all no matter how miserable we, perhaps should have been about it all. I wonder how effective another initiative along similar lines might be for any youngster wishing to offer themselves up for an easy going, fun but informative 12 weeks on pay and board basis might be for youngsters finding themselves at a lose end, bored, inquisitive, a sense of duty with no strings attached and no pressure to sign up at the end of it might be. Could it offer us a few thousand at the end of it willing to commit to a further conversion course and serve as a professional? Could it offer us thousands more, kept on a register, who had already done 12 weeks basic so in the csae of a full mobilization there would be that number who would need to just attend an updating/reminder course in order to be of military use should the brown stuff hit the air oscillation implement? Some may be interested enought to join a reserve unit or bite the bullet, more will at least be of minimal use if and when that unhappy times comes. I suspect it's only a matter of time before it does.

I Just hope you told the Enemy to use the approach of soft and gentle to nurture your soldiers.

Lol - would love to see the 'feedback' after the ritual Friday afternoon change parade before your weekend off. Or the usual 'pick a window' morning block inspection. I was on the ground floor and used to watch kit come raining down from the rooms upstairs. Quality memories from yesteryear.

Have they cut phase one training from 15 weeks to 13?

Anyone that calls themselves a good soldier after learning how to load a gun and shoot down range needs a reality check.

Good to see the WTSS in action.

So let's get poorer quality troops, in summary, so they can hit their recruiting criteria, Rather sad to see such downgrade on the force.

Nurture rather than train?!

Agression is a key part of pushing yourself during an exercise,not cuddles and wingeing about your feelings

How do I join British army or reserve, I have always wanted to be a soldier right from child hood, However, I have got some little eye problem, ptosis, I hope I can still serve.

Oh yeah, they look ready for WWIII.

Things must be so bad now ,the British government can’t even recruit cannon fodder anymore,what are they doing to our once proud country

Not sure if they do but I think they need to incorporate new elements to basic. Including more CQB, trench & drone warfare.

There goes the British Army - all cuddly and woke.

Presumably the route for the non-combat roles (everyone needs to be able to fight if needed. I know - calm down) but realistically this Ipad trained cohort wont get anywhere near a tactical deployment. And think of the elimination of the 'it was harder in my day' argument from the cuddle REMFs after they have left.

Lot of issues to consider but it seems to me that we could be in a pre-war phase. By the time we end up in a full blown war the forces accept a wider intake and are glad of their support (many become 'heroes' in the eyes of society). Perhaps there is a middle ground in between, a role for the army to be more open minded. I think though swift recruitment and proper pay and conditions are other factors. I appreciate if you have already been through very tough selection and training you are likely to be defensive of that and perhaps a little resentful of any apparent easier ride.

This is just off putting why would you want to join the army to play about with an ipad to give feedback 😂

They forgot to mention they wear fluffy slippers on tabs now and their CEFO is full of duck feathers. The British army were renowned across the world as having the best trained soldiers, the best discipline, the fittest and for being fearless in battle. These recruits today will fail at battalion, if they are able to ask to take 2 weeks out of training to feel better then how are they going to cope in actual battle or on a course like SCBC or PSBC, unless they've now made those courses easier as well. Our army is the smallest its ever been, what they need is the very best people in those jobs, not box tickers. Standards are dropping, they don't like recruiting lads from council estates anymore and that makes a huge difference to the toughness and robustness of today's soldiers. I was a Plt Sgt at an ITB in the 1990's and i joined the army in 1980, and the soldiers were pushed hard in their trade training (infantry), my son is a SNCO in one of the Para battalions and he's seen it first hand in other regiments, how pathetic some of the 'soldiers' act on operations, he called them embarrassing, so far the para's have been spared all this nonsense because they still have P Coy and still have training that's harder then the infantry, but for how much longer, when labour get in they'll shrunk it even more and fill it up with the illegals that have occupied our country, the army needs someone with balls who ain't thinking about their future awards and jobs in the city, they need someone who will speak up NOW and tell the government diversity and making the army smaller isn't fit for purpose, don't wait until they are out and say something as that's meaningless as they have no power once a civvy, Army, be the best,

I never mock or criticise the way the British Army recruitment training functions in this day and age! Reason being is that we are always going to evolve and adjust to today’s society and HM forces has to deal with that especially from threats around the globe ! Looking back on my basic training as an army recruit in the 80’s , I never could understand why we spent most of our time doing area cleaning ( picking up litter ) and fatigues , albeit removal men lol How this made you a good soldier was beyond me !!

iPad / app - anyone implementing anything this way in 2024 (unless it's for an actual iPad strapon accessory) should be encouraged to try a career other than IT. 1:03 appears to show an URL at the top of a browser. Is it really a web application - as it should be - so it could run on any device?

If only the RN had worked this out twenty years ago. I loved service life. I just hated the job I was "guided" into.

Homeless veterans on the streets,economic migrants in hotels.

Every recruit is given an ipad to give feedback on training 🙂 As a recruit back in the 70's (in the Rhodesian Army) the feedback only went one way and it wasn't bottom to top that's for sure.

As someone who went through both British army and royal marines commando training in the 90's I lolled out loud at this.

Equality of outcome seems to beat meritocracy. It will be good to know that your oppo might fold under pressure when it counts.

After the conversation I just had, the British army has had some dangerous people in it in the past! Let's hope that these loose cannons aren't as common as they used to be, because once they leave the military they can become a big danger to the public!

Taylored individual training to help differentiate their development is better in the long-term, as recruits will appreciate it initially and so are more likely to promote Army life to others. Thanks for sharing. 🇬🇧

Icl, the psychology of the military does need to change. It's why it's so difficult for ex-servicemen to get out and is a major cause of recruits leaving early on. If we can have a motivated standing army then they will be strong enough to bring much needed change and will have enough power to bring problems with things like bad kit, accommodation, food etc to light.

Sign up get on the bus straight to training two weeks later that’s how it should be

Looks completely different from even five years ago 😮‍💨

The rate it is going it will be 1:1 training. The 1 person left training the the 1 guy taking over from him, her or even them.

Why change the training, have recruits changed?

If it works it works. As long as all meet the standard.

I'm confused, is this basic training or officer training? In the past, why would each training center have it's own unique standards and schedules?

Work hard and you will be rewarded tuff routine and structure and discipline makes a good soldier there to pampered now a day's 😅

you cant make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

This sounds inconceivable from an American perspective, and, by the looks of the comments, a British perspective too.

It makes sense, if you throw people who can't swim in the deep end on day 1 then it's quite likely they'll quit. If you teach them to swim and then throw them in the deep end it's more likley they'll stay.

Our army is going to crumple.

hold on stop the war i need so me time.

This is already lightyears in front of what Germany wants to achieve... Now do drone reconnaissance, fpv drone attacks, mechanical engineering and Britain adapted quite well

We could call it a revolutionary name too? CMS(R). Catchy, eh?

A very complicated way to say "get ready, the cold war is going hot"

My recruitment took half a day retired as a Lt Col🤷‍♂

Ipads and writing down your feelings 😂 ... Wow

Surely this could have been resolved by getting rid of capita and revisiting medical standards. Weren’t 200,000 recruits rejected in the last 10 years by capita? You’re telling me not one of those motivated men was suitable for the armed forces?

In the 80s and before, soldiers got through basic and infantry training because they were too afraid of the drill sergeants not to! The army was a one-way ticket to hell in which death on the battlefield or a heart attack in training were the only honourable ways out before discharge date. For all its faults, it was a tried and tested system because the soldiers were more afraid of the army than the enemy. We don't yet really know how well the new system works against a formidable foe.

Try not losing people's medical papers/details all the time and get rid of capita.

I hope this lot never have to fight the Russians

Crate for that label stuck up @0:37

Syllabus - Week 1: Personal Pronouns. Week 2: Diversity in the workplace....

Hmm, i feel ambivalent about this. I can see that a high washout rate does not serve recruits, training academies or the force in general. Are we salvaging recruits at the expense of preparing them adequately, potentially for the hardest job a human can perform and endure?

this is our war fighting force.... what on earth, every time they leave their beds they'll have to write a personal evaluation to make sure the sheets weren't offensive or traumatizing

Report to the Cpl about how much sleep their getting......... is this for real!

Being fatigued was always part of Army training to build you up so you were able to cope in real combat situations An l Pad is not much use to you in the jungle or desert ?

It’s not enough for them to “survive the 13 weeks” why aren’t RFT’s conducted at basic training? So many new soldiers aren’t MFD and cannot meet the standards. It’s sad to see

We are soo doomed if we go to war.

Pure desperation. The natives will not fight for a British state that hates them.

Oh dear, oh dear oh dear, what is happening!!

Get rid of out dated BMI system

Posters below are correct with their capitia aren't good, pay, soldiers more etc etc. However, the main issue is the skewe of demographic information that shows recruiting is working via just the online method. People used to be able to walk into a high street shop and be recruited, or sometimes collared outside and enticed in, or the police /courts would suggest time in the army. Let's remember we need three types of people, a problem solver that can issue a plan and as it fails on meeting enemy reconstruct several times to meet the intent. People who are theoretical and know how to adapt and overcome to make a job work and street wise young adults who are practical, adaptive, and learn by repetition. So you have officers, trades and infantry. There are exceptions lots of, and i agree, but stick with me. Those infantry soldiers who aren't great on smart phones, a little bit wayward, see threats as they walk back home, want to better themselves but just don't know how. When we give them a 30 page online application we lose them, these people are who we are missing, friends I once joined with that progressed, learnt, grew not only in stature but in people eyes who respected them. But then again what do I know, im not on Colonels wages back briefing him what he wants to hear and saying yes General, your amazing General.

Every Recruit gets an Ipad? And yet the armed forces are screaming saying they don't have enough money. Seems like they get more than enough, they just are incapable of speeding it wisely. We just used pen and paper, and had access to a computer room as recruits/trainees.

More Progressive! Those words frighten me. Basic training is not day care. This sounds touchy-freely! What happened to Junior Leaders or Boy Soldier programmes?

Designed for LBGTQ, definitely *_progressive_* !

Try cutting the recruitment process down from 2 years. For an 18yr old 2 years is a very long time they just lose interest.

.........."boating weekend " anyone.😂😂

Is this how we train Ukrainian soldiers ?! I phuqing hope its not

Wasn’t allowed to look screws in eye never mind give feet back on how much sleep I’ve had

I wonder if this will roll out to reservists too. It would also be a GREAT idea to do this for the police... wait, they did and got rid of it.

Get the regiments of Drone bot fusiliers done, EW and IT crowd , required to offer effective operational cover to the traditional set up. However the hollowing out and poor government choices also need a nation to be interested in supporting need services , not just self interest, low tax, idle rich .While getting geek training up to pre standard choices is a positive , revolution has to encompass the growing electronic effects in conflicts. The one course fits all, will fail to deliver otherwise?

All teenagers should have to do this when they turn 15

Open up the common wealth Countries Recruiting Program

I like how every Forces News vid has the same pair of arsecheeks in the comments talking about "intellectual curiosity"

What's up with that rifle sight? It looks like it is corroding away ? Needs some black electrical tape wrapped around it !! or a least a touch up with a black marker felt tip.

Whoever put this video out must have thought this would show the British army in a good light but in watching it I certainly don't see that. Perhaps I'm in the minority but it really just seems like they are lowering standards but trying to make it somehow seem like a positive. First of all are the people specifically chosen for the video, that would be worrying if it was the case. "On civvy street you don't have much times to keep to.." What? Not sure where on civvy street this guys been. Giving out iPad's to get feedback and to add to a reflective diary, yes feedback is good and reflection for any skill is vital but they are raw recruits what possible insightful and actionable feedback are they going to provide the experienced soldiers training them, preparing them for combat. And this is the army they are there to follow orders you don't try and haggle with what you will or won't be doing. At best it just seems like extra admin and therefore expense with the new "my training" system. At worst it's just catering to the feelings of the recruit, what will they say "I'm tired after all that running" and what action do the trainers take? Do they lower standards and point to the information as a reason why? Or they not lower standards and therefore the whole point is lost and money wasted? They say they haven't lowered standards then go on to mention before training has even started if someone doesn't make the standard i.e., not having basic organization skills, they then spend extra time effort and resources trying to bring them up to standard...So, now you're just negating the whole sifting process, which again costs lots of money and letting in subpar recruits and giving them extra resources that could be used on those who turned up prepared and with the right skills? How about use all of the money that went into developing this new approach, all the systems, equipment staff training and general admin, and then put it towards paying those that pass basic training a decent wage. And if you are having issues getting decent recruits then this might go towards bringing in recruits without compromising on standards. Didn't mean to go on such a rant ha, perhaps I am missing something, it's just sad to see recruits for the British army now being treated as if they are students going to university.

Capita & Sodexo & poor accommodation is The Problem.

iPads and feelings, this is truly a desperate approach to training to try and maintain retention levels of recruits! I’d be embarrassed turning the outcome of this to my parent unit.