Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fe

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OpenMind
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Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fe

Post by OpenMind »

I never thought I would live to see this.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... w_13082006





Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fence

Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent

(Filed: 13/08/2006)

The language is cold and bureaucratic, but the message is crystal clear - the Army is running out of cash and Britain's troops in Afghanistan and Iraq are paying the price.

In a confidential document, defence chiefs talk of "high impact" cost-cutting measures that will cause "some pain" and result "in severe impediment to the delivery of operational capability".



It is a far cry from the pledge made by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, just four months ago, when he boasted that he was going to make an extra £1 billion available. The money, which came from a "special reserve", was meant to help the military to conduct peacekeeping operations around the world.

Now it seems that defence chiefs are being forced to pay for the Chancellor's unusual generosity by slashing military spending, closing bases and withdrawing equipment from service.

All of this is, according to some senior officers, "putting the lives of British servicemen at risk".

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that the Land Command, the organisation responsible for ensuring that British troops are properly equipped and trained to fight anywhere in the world, has been ordered to cut more than £40 million from its budget in the next eight months.

Cuts to other departments in the Army, in addition to the Royal Navy and the RAF, are now expected, as the annual £1.3 billion costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan begin to bite into the defence budget.

The report, which is in the form of a "loose minute" with three annexes and is entitled "Financial Management 2006/07", reveals that:

• Repair budgets for Army tanks and artillery pieces will be slashed.

• Bases will be closed, "severely impeding" combat operations.

• Military exercises in Kenya and Canada will be cancelled or scaled down, leading to problems with training and morale.

• Funding for the Army's only multiple-launched rocket systems will cease, creating a 30-month capability gap.

• Missile systems will be withdrawn from service early, creating a 24-month capability gap.

• The stockpiling of ammunition for deployable brigades such as 16 Air Assault Brigade, currently in Afghanistan, and Apache helicopters, will be reduced.

• Recruitment to the Territorial Army will be "slowed".

• The money available to train University Officer Training Cadets will be capped.

The financial report was drawn up for Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, the commander-in-chief of Land Command.

The general is responsible for more than 70,000 servicemen and women, all of the Army's tanks, artillery and Apache attack helicopters, and has a budget of more than £3 billion - the largest in the Army.

Gen Dannatt, who is due to succeed Gen Sir Mike Jackson as chief of the general staff in the next few weeks, ordered the cuts to prevent further budget restrictions in the future. In the most damaging disclosure, the report states that the Army Base Repair Organisation, which is responsible for repairing the

Army's tanks, missiles systems and artillery pieces, will also have its budget slashed. The report describes this as a "high impact" measure.

The document also states that the predicted rise in the cost of utilities, such as fuel, water and electricity, will mean that several military facilities will have to close, resulting in a "severe impediment to the delivery of operational capability".

The funding crisis is now so severe that senior commanders across the Army have been ordered to organise meetings so that they can travel using "saver tickets".

The document reveals that the building of a security fence at the Army's Dishforth air base, which is the home of 9 Regiment Army Air Corps, where Apache attack helicopters are based, has been cancelled because of the cash crisis. The document goes on to say that the future of the base, in North Yorkshire, is now under review.

Funding will also cease for the Army's sophisticated Multiple Launched Rocket System, which can hit a target with an accuracy of 10 feet from a distance of 43 miles.

The document states that this will mean that, in an emergency, the Army could not deploy the weapon to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

In a recent article in a Ministry of Defence house magazine, Defence Logistics Organisation News, Gen Dannatt appeared to criticise Treasury policy when he compared the demand placed on the Army with the level of Government funding. He said that both Afghanistan and Iraq were proving to be "demanding" theatres and admitted that all the assumptions made about withdrawing troops from Iraq "had not been substantiated".

He went on: " has huge demands placed upon us. We are finding ourselves quite finely balanced and taut, added to which is the problem that defence is not financially over-resourced at the moment."

Defence spending has long been a running sore with many senior officers, who believe that the procurement of main weapons systems are too often made for political reasons rather than their practical use on the battlefield.

One senior officer told this newspaper that the Government had wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers money when it decided to buy 232 Eurofighter combat jets at a cost of £50 million each.

The officer said: "We have a situation in Afghanistan where the Army does not have enough helicopters, yet it is going to have dozens of squadrons of Eurofighters which will never be used in war.

"The problem isn't just a lack of funding, it is also about how the money is spent."

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2006.

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spot
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Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fe

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I note that the United Kingdom maintains at least one nuclear-armed Trident submarine at sea at all times.

For what reason does the United Kingdom wish to maintain an ability to project conventional armed force abroad? I see no need for the country to do that either now or in the future.

Against whom does the United Kingdom need to protect the British Isles from military assault? I see no State capable of invading the nation without triggering a nuclear response against its own major cities.

Why then does the United Kingdom need to maintain a standing army at all? We have done so since Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army established the Commonwealth. Times have changed. The Defence of the Realm can be placed entirely in the hands of the Trident operation. There is no need any longer for a Navy, an Army or an Air Force in this country. They are outmoded institutions and should be disbanded entirely forthwith. All they're good for any longer is maintaining the Queen's Peace in times of civil unrest, and they've been shown time and again to be shockingly inept in such circumstances.

I propose we disband the entire system on the grounds that they are an affront to all civilized values.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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OpenMind
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Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fe

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I do agree that we shouldn't be meddling in other country's affairs at least, not without invite by the country and then that country should pay for the privilege. Nonetheless, the Trident is not suitable for all our defences.

I won't pretend to know a lot about military strategies but, I am aware that warfare has changed its nature. I am sure that we are unlikely to sufer a mass invasion by another army. In this, I agree that our services need to be modified accordingly - trimming the excesses is a healthy exercise.

Our services need to reflect our defence requirements within the modern stage. At the moment, we cannot abolish it entirely. At the very least, we need to be able to provide a military presence to show we are prepared to defend ourselves.

I respect your points, Spot. They are valid arguments.
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OpenMind
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Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fe

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How many service members would be necessarily demobbed by a rationalisation of the services? We have to take into account the economical impact of such a move. Of course, any government would love any move that would bring wages down. But the servicemen and women would need jobs to go to.
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spot
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Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fe

Post by spot »

OpenMind wrote: We have to take into account the economical impact of such a move. Of course, any government would love any move that would bring wages down. But the servicemen and women would need jobs to go to.Was it not the Thatcher woman who wanted the streets swept regularly? Let her overtrained paid killers do it. There'll be less to sweep up once we turn their horses into petfood.
Nullius in verba ... ☎||||||||||| ... To Fate I sue, of other means bereft, the only refuge for the wretched left.
When flower power came along I stood for Human Rights, marched around for peace and freedom, had some nooky every night - we took it serious.
Who has a spare two minutes to play in this month's FG Trivia game! ... My other OS is Slackware.
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OpenMind
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Cash crisis so severe that base faces closure because Army can't afford to build a fe

Post by OpenMind »

spot wrote: Was it not the Thatcher woman who wanted the streets swept regularly? Let her overtrained paid killers do it. There'll be less to sweep up once we turn their horses into petfood.


It seems that our councils are having enough difficulty paying for the services it provides as it is. And would the Government be ready to finance such a move? Only if they could find a political benefit from it.

One thing's for sure though, you wouldn't want to insult an ex-commando cum street sweeper.
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