Cuts leave UK forces Ëœcynical and detachedâ„¢, Britain’s new defense chief warns.
British governmentâ„¢s plans to cut military jobs and budgets have left some personnel feeling Å“cynical and detached”, new head of UK armed forces warns.
The Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Houghton said maintaining morale and performance is a “huge challenge” when the services are reduced by almost 20,000 posts in size.
Houghton explained his concerns over the transformation of armed forces, saying that the reforms at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have been poorly explained to internal community.
He also said the mistakes made in the transformation process, risked personnel Å“becoming cynical and detached from what defence is trying to do.”
According to the latest figures released by the MoD, morale in the British army has fallen sharply since cuts to the ministry were announced three years ago.
The British government is cutting the number of regular soldiers from 102,000 to 82,000 by 2017, while it plans to recruit 30,000 extra reservists to compensate for the redundecies.
The MoD survey, however, revealed only a third of army personnel believe that reservists are well integrated with regular forces.
MOS/HE
Republished from: Press TV