Only 10 16-year-olds have joined Royal Navy in the last year
THE number of 16-year-olds joining the Royal Navy has plummeted with only 10 signing up in the last year.
The new figures reveal that though recruitment targets have been met, the number of youngsters joining the armed forces is a fraction of what it was ten years ago.
-
HMS Ocean
The Ministry of Defence said a raw recruit’s ability and enthusiasm was more important than their age.
However, some commentators have suggested that the scything Strategic Defence Spending Review (SDSR) cuts and perceptions of low morale, have reduced the attractiveness of joining the armed forces.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
Mike Critchley, a Liskeard based ex Royal Navy officer who publishes Warship World, said: “The SDSR has obviously had an effect.”
“The whole world knows that the armed forces in the UK are getting smaller.”
According to figures revealed by defence minister Mark Francois, following a parliamentary question, just 10 16-year-olds enlisted in each of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. In the army however, some 1,475 16-year-olds joined up in 2011-12.
In total, only 1,495 16-year-olds signed up across the three services in 2011-12, compared with 4,430 in 2002-03.
The fall was most dramatic for the Royal Navy, which saw 585 new recruits join in 2003-04.
The youngest age new recruits can join the armed forces is 16, although they have to be 18 to be deployed in front line operations.
Mr Critchley said that times had changed and many parents believed 16 was too young to join the army, navy or air force.
“The bottom line is that kids in general are staying at school longer.
“As a parent I would want my child to stay in education until they are 18 rather than rushing off to join up at 16.”
The changes in recruitment figures come as cuts under the SDSR continue with Devonport Naval Base stripped of four warships and around one-third of the first 1,000 naval redundancies issued in the Westcountry.
An official survey by the MoD among servicemen and women last year revealed morale to be at its lowest for decades.
However the MoD said the forces had hit their manning targets and recruitment was buoyant: “It would be completely misleading to make assumptions about the popularity of our Armed Forces based on the recruitment of 16 year olds.
“As we re-configure our Armed Forces to become a more balanced, capable and adaptable military power, slowing recruitment is just one of the ways to reach our required manning numbers. “There is also a wider government push for young people to stay in education until they are 18 which has raised the average age at which people join the Services.”
The spokesman added that recruitment continued “unabated” to fill “challenging roles” in the armed forces.
Comments
by bedoboy
Thursday, September 13 2012, 9:27AM
“So no excuses for reducing the armed forces numbers then!?”
by CharlieDodd
Thursday, September 13 2012, 1:23AM
“The Navy sounds fun, blowing pirates out of the water and visiting exotic ports, but it's the bit in between that must be boring, cooped up in a tin can for weeks on end”
by marc1964
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 5:04PM
“Another nail in HMS Raleighs coffin , following on from yesterdays story . Torpoint meet Royal marine . Royal marine be gentle”
by ArtyJames
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 3:56PM
“I can't wait to send my child off to war to be shot at, exploded by IEDs and be sent back a hero(ine). Much better than continuing in education and having the chance to truly 'be all she can be'.”
by Vinnie_Gar
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 10:44AM
“Only 10 16-year-olds have joined Royal Navy in the last year"
So what!
pogle063
You've hit the nail on the head there.”
by arthur_p
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 10:39AM
“If the Navy has a choice then surely it would take 16-year olds as a last resort: slightly more mature people in the ranks; and it gets away from the controversy of having kids on-board.”
by Mr_Eos
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 9:38AM
“Since the waiting list for most ratings' jobs is 2 years from the start of the application process to joining HMS Raleigh it is no great shock that there are so few 16 year-olds joining.
How many 14 year olds know what career path they want and are prepared for a 2 year wait before starting?
And how many change their minds in the interim?
As other posters have stated, a bit of a non-story really.”
by donut73
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 9:05AM
“@ chrisplym0000
Young people will be required to stay in school, training or workplace training until the age of 18, so this will still allow them to join the military as they will be in the workplace training category.”
by pogle063
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 8:55AM
“It is no big suprise whats the point of joining up to a service that has been Whittled down to a skeleton of its former self - a service that has lost its world class status and is currently being further paired down in order to receive two of the biggest most expensive white elephants ever built - two massive super carriers - which have no aircraft to fly from them and definately not enough people to crew them.
Add to this a series of Governments who treat you with utter contempt, after spending 25 years in the Navy, I personally would not recommend joining whats left of it to anyone.
The Royal Navy these days is like flogging a dead donkey - pointless.
Got to the point now where they can`t even get peoples pay right.”
by chrisplym0000
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 8:47AM
“The school leaving age is going up to 17 next year, and then 18 in 2015. Soon, no 16 year old will be able to join the Navy. What a non-story!”