Is the British Military Ready for a Major War?

I’m currently a serving soldier in the British army and have been for 16 years and I have seen the army gradually decline in effectiveness in the last 10 years.

British government removes military commitment bonus, drastically reduces military pension, spends money contracting out jobs instead of using already trained personel Also the British government - "Why is everybody leaving the military?"

It’s pretty depressing being a UK citizen right now, just corruption, incompetence and managed decline at every level. The people in charge seem to have agenda’s that do not support its citizens or protection of the realm. Hoping this changes and things will turn round but it does feel like the rot runs deep!

'Nobody loves a soldier untill the enemy is at the gate'

As a Pole, hearing Poland being treated as a role model makes me so incredibly proud, You have no idea.

The UK hasn't remembered how poorly prepared the country was at the beginning of World War II. One of my favorite British naval authors, Douglas Reeman (who served in the Royal Navy in WWII) noted that in peacetime, nobody cared (about defense) but in war, the civilians wanted miracles. We never learn from the lessons of history, and our enemies are indeed watching.

My annoyance with the British Army is over the past 5 years they have refused over 250,000 people on medical grounds (this has been confirmed by news sources, the Guardian). I personally had an ACL reconstruction to which I got refused because of that. Even though I can out run, easily conduct soldier like physical activities. I am currently a firefighter now and have had zero issues.

When I joined the US Navy in 2002, I met the recruiter who was in uniform. At one point during the conversation I asked how quickly I could get in? He replied that he would have to make some calls but he could have a van at the office to pick me up that evening. I went to basic training a few months later but I still remember being amazed on how quickly they could get me sorted out.

As a former American soldier who served in Cold War Germany, I had heard that the British Soldiers could stand up bravely against any foe with the sole exception of the UK Ministry of Defense.

Crazy how France and Poland are the ONLY ones in Europe prepared for war this time on round 3. 💀 What a time to be alive.

Consultancy firms are the bane of every public institution.

Why would you fight for a country that doesn’t even care about you! I wouldn’t dare fight for anyone of them

Nice to know multiple governments have failed their first objective. 1. Keep the nation secure and its people safe.

We have more people on the terror watchlist than we do front line soldiers...

Ironic that the Ajax project reminds me of the Wunderwaffe: overly complicated, massively expensive, unreliable, ineffective and takes ages to build.

Why would I fight for a country and government that treats me like crap.

As someone who tried to join the army about 6 years ago, I can confirm that the application process is appalling. Imagine applying for a job, and it takes more than a year to have even a prospect of getting that job. Meanwhile you have bills to pay, rent to pay, maybe a family to feed... it's utterly ludicrous. There are plenty of people like myself who wanted to serve but just could not reconcile the application process with real life needs. The government has been grossly incompetent in ensuring this country is adequately defended.

You know what's even more sad. While discussing the incredibly lackluster power of the current British military, it's still them and France who we'd expect to do the heavy lifting. People don't even expect anything from Germany anymore, that's arguably even sadder. "Oh yeah the Germans, whatever, they'll bureaucratically discuss whether or not to fire this singular 556 or not for multiple months."

Objective. Relevant. I love you guys

A private starts on £23,496 per year. My first job in an office doing fuck all most of the time was £27000. If they want to attract people, starting pay needs to increase to at the very least that level. They deserve much more