British Army - Recruitment

Recruitment

The Army mainly recruits within the United Kingdom; it normally has a recruitment target of around 12,000 soldiers per year.

Low unemployment in Britain has resulted in the Army having difficulty in meeting its target. In the early years of the 21st century there has been a marked increase in the number of recruits from other (mostly Commonwealth) countries. In 2006 overseas recruitment, mostly in Commonwealth countries, generated more than 6,000 soldiers from 54 nations; together with the 3,000 Gurkhas, 10% of the British Army is a foreign national.

The Ministry of Defence now caps the number of recruits from Commonwealth countries, although this will not affect the Gurkhas. If the trend continues 10% of the army will be from Commonwealth countries before 2012. The cap is in place as some fear the army's British character is being diluted, and employing too many could make the army seen as employing mercenaries.

The minimum recruitment age is 16 years (after the end of GCSEs), although soldiers may not serve on operations below 18 years; the maximum recruitment age was raised in January 2007 from 26 to 33 years. The normal term of engagement is 22 years, and, once enlisted, soldiers are not normally permitted to leave until they have served at least 4 years.

There has been a strong and continuing tradition of recruiting from Ireland including what is now the Republic of Ireland. Over 200,000 Irish soldiers fought in the First World War. More than 60,000 Irishmen from what was then the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) and 38,000 from Northern Ireland served in the Second World War, all volunteered.