THE BRITISH ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY

In: Armed forces & society: official journal of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society : an interdisciplinary journal, Band 1, Heft 2, S. 159-190

Abstract

THE BRITISH HAVE A LONG TRADITION OF NONCONSCRIPTION IN THE ARMED FORCES. PREVIOUS TO THE 1914 WAR, THE ARMY WAS LARGELY NONPROFESSIONAL & CONSCRIPTION HAD NEVER BEEN ATTEMPTED. FOLLOWING THE WAR, CONSCRIPTION WAS DISMISSED, ONLY TO BE REINSTATED IN 1939 & MAINTAINED UNTIL 1962 WHEN IT WAS AGAIN ABANDONED. THE ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY, HOWEVER, FACED RECURRENT MAN-POWER SHORTAGES THROUGHOUT THE 1960'S--PERHAPS DUE TO THE DECREASED GLAMOR OF THE MILITARY BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE IMPERIAL WITHDRAWAL & LACK OF POLITICAL WILL TO PURCHASE MORE STRENGTH, OCCASIONED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRITISH HYDROGEN BOMB. VARIOUS STRATEGIES WERE EMPLOYED TO INCREASE RECRUITMENT, INCLUDING LOWERING EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS & AGE OF ENTRY. THESE POLICIES HAD ADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGES, & ONLY MARGINAL SUCCESS. ECONOMIC DISLOCATION IN SOCIETY SEEMS MOST LIKELY TO BRING AN INCREASE IN RECRUITS; THE OFFICER CORPS WAS ALSO UNDERSTRENGTH DURING THIS PERIOD. AS THE SOCIETY HAS BECOME MORE OPEN & MERITOCRATIC, & WITH DEFENSE CUTS & CONSEQUENT LACK OF JOB SECURITY FOR OFFICERS, RECRUITMENT HAS BECOME A PROBLEM. THE KEY STRATEGY IN OFFICER RECRUITMENT HAS BEEN, & CONTINUES TO BE, AN EFFORT TO BROADEN THE SOCIAL BASE FROM WHICH OFFICERS ARE DRAWN. 7 TABLES. F. HYDOSKI.