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Nicholas Drummond @nicholadrummond
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TEN INITIATIVES THAT WOULD TRANSFORM THE BRITISH ARMY INTO THE WORLD CLASS ARMY IT USED TO BE. (Thread)

The Army is in a shocking state. It is suffering from successive cuts made since 1990 and a chronic lack of investment. It hasn't been this small since 1800.
The best Strategic Defence Review of the modern era was in 1998, a time when Britain was not involved in any major conflict. It concluded that the optimum peacetime size was 110,000 with two deployable divisions. We would have achieved this had it not been for Iraq & Afghanistan.
Job 1 is to increase Army headcount to 90,000, so that the Artillery, Engineer, Logistics and other units axed in 2010, can be regenerated. This would enable us to reorganise the Army around two deployable divisions or seven deployable brigades.
Job 2 is to reconfigure every brigade so that it has either three infantry battalions plus a cavalry regiment or two cavalry regiments plus two infantry battalions. Every brigade should also have organic tube artillery, an engineer regiment and a signals squadron.
Job 3 is to fix recruitment and retention. This is done through leadership and sound management as much as through extra cash. Once Battalions and Regiments are resourced as they should be, they should not need to rely on the Army Reserve to deploy.
Job 4 is to invest in armoured vehicles. We're planning to invest £10 billion. We probably need to invest closer to £15 billion. We need to beef-up the Strike Brigades by giving them a wheeled version of Ajax. We also need more tracked IFVs for the Armoured Infantry brigades.
Job 5 is to invest in artillery. AS90 155mm SPG and the L118 105mm Light gun are both obsolete and knackered. Both are vulnerable to counter battery fire. We need to put GMLRS units into separate regiments. We need more air defence, more STA and we need to fix Watchkeeper.
Job 6 is to increase the total number of infantry battalions by just one. This should be done by returning 1 Para to the Air Assault Role and establishing a dedicated SFSG battalion, thus enlarging the SF pool. If we're going to be a small army we need to be a very good one.
Job 7 is to increase the number of artillery regiments so that we have separate tube and rocket regiments. We are really weak in this area. Each division needs air defence, STA and GMLRS. The Army also needs precision fires, better UAVs, and more medium range air defence systems.
Job 8 is to increase the number of logistics regiments so we can support two divisions when deployed. The RLC are the Army's unsung heroes. Their ingenuity and hard work allowed us to deploy a credible force to Kosovo when the Americans with all their resources took too long.
Job 9 is to recapitalise the Army's bases around 10-12 military hubs including Aldershot, Catterick, Tidworth, Warminster, Colchester, Bovington, Warminster, Salisbury, Edinburgh, Birmingham, London and Paderborn.We need to retain overseas bases in Cyprus, Brunei, Belize, & Kenya
Job 10 is to rebuild morale and the sense of belonging that summarises what it means to be a soldier today. It is still about being the best, and going beyond anything you ever thought you could be. It is about opening the door to anyone who can achieve the Army's high standards.
Anyone reading this, who thinks the above suggestions are unrealistic and unaffordable ask yourself this: if you lock your home or your car to keep the things you value safe, why wouldn't you also want your country to be secure from those who would attack and destroy it?
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