Tuesday 3 July 2007

Forces Struggling To Recruit

There are some vacancies that must be notoriously hard to recruit for. I cannot see an orderly queue forming for a career as a suppository tester for example and the applications for OJ Simpson's escort must be pretty thin on the ground.
Another job that they seem to be having problems with is recruiting for the UK Armed Forces, hence the Government stating today that Britain's armed forces have staff shortages of almost 6,000 people, leaving personnel overstretched and unable to meet the demands placed on them.
"Recruitment is down and we are desperately failing to replace the numbers that leave" stated the Army Recruitment Officer with surprise in his voice.
So what could possibly be the problem encouraging young people to join the Armed Forces? Personally, i believe that anyone who actually wants a career killing people is the last person we should be handing over a loaded weapon to, which is probably why i am not in charge of recruitment, but what can the Army, Navy and RAF do to boost their numbers?
I would play down very real possibility of getting killed while being sent on missions to replace leaders of other countries on trumped up charges.
The chance to join the War on Terror might be best kept quiet, especially if you are hoping to recruit ethnic minorities who might take offence to a policy that seems centred on targeting Muslims.
So the angle i would concentrate on is that you get a really smart uniform.
That's what i would go with.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Same here. Our military hasn't hit a recruitment goal in years. That's why people who signed up for "One weekend a month and two weeks a year" are celebrating their second year in Iraq.

Paula said...

So the angle i would concentrate on is that you get a really smart uniform.

And chyx dig it. They could totally play that up, throw in a couple shots from the Brit equivalent of An Officer and A Gentleman.

Anonymous said...

I've often suspected that my dad joined the army at age 16 to impress chicks and ended up jumping behind enemy lines in Normandy as an unwelcome surprise.

I can attest that he got laid, though. I admit, I also wonder if my oldest sibling isn't French.

Is it bad that the word verifications often seem like African names to me?

Cody Bones said...

"Personally, i believe that anyone who actually wants a career killing people is the last person we should be handing over a loaded weapon to"

I don't think that I like painting this with such a broad brush. Everyone I know in the military or ex-military(family members, friends, co-workers) joined out of a sense of duty, honor and obligation to their country. I'm sure that there are psychopaths that relish the idea of receiving a loaded gun, but I would hope that they are filtered out in the early training process. That being said, I can't imagine an unpopular war being the best thing for recruiting new soldiers. In regards to the smart uniform, I have a friend who I work with who is an ex-Navy Seal. Even though he is not in uniform anymore, you wouldn't believe the looks he gets from ALL the women in the office, no matter what their age. The lousy bastard

Anonymous said...

it's a tough job but someone's gotta do it! i'm sure some people do join out of a sense of duty, and i KNOW that not everyone in the army agrees with the war on terror, but what i've found is that a lot of young people see it as a chance to escape from the real world, and are attracted to the discipline and routine of it all.
i ha--te the uniform but i guess that's one angle you could go with!! but what about the women though. i'm sure that must be even harder..

Anonymous said...

oh and thanks for adding me to your blogroll it's an honour! but i'm on wordpress now..
and don't get rid of iMuslim, she'll be back any minute in full foce i can feel it. she's updating you know xx

Daniel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Falling on a bruise said...

They keep changing their strategy but i fail to see how they can attract the type of people they want, unless they have no TV, Internet, radio or newspapers at their house.

Joe the Troll said...

"a lot of young people see it as a chance to escape from the real world"

Permanently.

O' Tim said...


Is it bad that the word verifications often seem like African names to me?


I got "ywqtybj." A bit Slav, no?