The army’s engineering regiments need an injection of new talent from the industry to serve in their expanded reserve forces.
The Territorial Army has begun a new recruitment campaign to expand its numbers in the light of government strategy to shrink the regular army but meet operational requirements through increased use of reservists.
The MOD green paper “Future Reserves 2020” suggests a need for 30,000 reservists by 2018 and 35,000 by 2020, compared to the current strength of around 19,000. The MOD is also investing an additional £1.8bn in the reserve forces’ training and equipment over the next 10 years.
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The Royal Engineers, which includes a number of units including the 170 (Infrastructure Support) Engineer Group, are hoping that construction professionals will see the recruitment drive as an opportunity to use their civilian skills in a different environment.
The TA requires up to 6,000 new recruits a year. Meanwhile, 170 Engineer Group, which delivers infrastructure engineering support to forces “in theatre” is looking for around 70-80 new reservists a year across all ranks to work alongside its 900 regulars. The unit is based in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, but draws reserves from all over the country.
Major David Hemming told CM: “You could come in as a chartered engineer and we’d see if you had the attributes to be commissioned, or some people with management jobs prefer a more hands-on role when they join the TA. We also have ‘clerks of works’, who typically have experience on the tools as artisan tradesmen, but then have the ability to do design as well.”
The service requirement is currently 27 days a year, made up of Friday evening to Sunday afternoon training weekends and a two-week annual camp. However, this is likely to increase.
The army recently outsourced its recruitment operation to Capita, which will also have a role in streamlining TA recruitment. “At the moment it can take a while from an individual saying ‘I’m interested’ to getting trained,” said Hemming.
TA soldiers are paid a daily rate during their training, and also receive an annual lump sum bounty. When called up they are paid the same rates as full-time regular soldiers, according to their rank. If this is less than their civilian salary, they receive a top up to the value of their salary.
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