Leaked Letter Warns Army Battalions and Regiments to Vanish In Cuts

By British Forces Broadcasting Service on Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

The head of the Army has written to military commanders, warning that entire battalions and regiments will disappear and an extra 5000 soldiers face losing their jobs by 2015.

Details of General Sir Peter Wall’s letter have been revealed in the Telegraph today.

In the letter General Sir Peter Wall spells out the impact of some of the cuts announced by the Defence Secretary Liam Fox last week.

He states the additional cuts will take the Army down to around 90,000 by 2015, and 82,000 regulars five years later.

General Wall warns it would mean the removal of battalions and regiments, though it would be offset by “welcome proposals” to enhance the Territorial Army.

General Wall also says that although some programmes are going through, there will have to be “reductions elsewhere”.

The MOD says they will move gradually towards the new Army structure so operations are not adversely affected. It insists “nobody preparing for or deployed on operations would be made redundant unless they volunteer”