Since Rishi Sunak announced his plan to introduce mandatory National Service should the Conservatives get re-elected, opinion has been split – to say the least. A YouGov poll this week showed that 65pc of under-25s oppose enrolling in either a year-long military placement or spending a weekend each month volunteering, as the plans suggest, while 63pc of over-65s support it.
Mandatory National Service began in the aftermath of the Second World War in England, running from 1949-60. It remains compulsory in countries like Norway, where Morten Isnes, a now 47-year-old a chiropractor and coach, took part in the mid-90s.
While many of his peers “tried to get out of it, and people did get quite creative” – feigning ailments so they’d fail their physical – he was never tempted. In his year of service he learned a lot about what he could achieve and what he was actually capable of.
“I did things that I didn’t think I would be able to,” says Isnes.
He credits the experience with developing “grit and resilience” that he otherwise never would have.
Isnes thinks the plans are “a great idea”, although he concedes that “when I went in, there was never really any threat of me having to see any action. Whereas the UK is in a very different geopolitical position”.
Others are less enthused. “The drastic cuts to the British military cannot be dealt with by a ‘Dad’s Army’ for the young,” says John Strawson, professor of law at the University of East London.
“This seems to be a gimmick rather than a serious proposal for dealing with declining defence spending. Over the past 14 years our armed services have been run down and the British Army, at 73,000, is just on a par with the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon,” he adds.
“The last thing the military needs is to have to divert resources to training millions of young people, most of whom will be reluctant recruits.”
There are currently 26,000 soldiers serving in the Army Reserves (which changed its name from the Territorial Army in 2012), with many former joiners saying the experience changed their lives. Here, three ex-recruits share how it gave them life skills for their careers, like discipline, the importance of hard graft and working in a team.
During training, the day rate is £46.91, rising to £58.99 once completed, and £93.96 for new officers (there is also a tax-free amount of £526 after serving for a year, typically reaching £2,084 in year five). For those keen to ascend the ranks, pay can reach £100.68 for sergeants, £119.71 for captains, and £150.14 for majors.
Many former reservists say the experience changed their lives. Here, three share how it affected them and their careers.
‘National Service turned me from a boy to a man’
Geoff Capple, 81, retired
I had no intention of signing up to the TA until a close friend told me how great it was: “like Cowboys and Indians,” he said. I was 18 in 1961 and signed up on his suggestion, and I loved every minute of it.
I’m from Greenwich, but the regiment was out in Leytonstone, so we’d catch a few buses to get to training each week. At that age, girls had come into my life, so I didn’t have so much time to do the weekend camps, but the bond I formed with other squaddies over the next four years was amazing.
I enjoyed the discipline, which I’d never had before, and the camaraderie. I had my civilian drinking buddies in Greenwich, but things with the TA guys were on a different level – we had such a great time. There’s a real bond that develops between you, and it’s quite unlike anything else.
Being in the TA turned me from a boy into a man. I was driving a Ferret armoured car in the cavalry regiment, did some radio operations and map reading, too – somewhat different to my job at the time as a supermarket manager. I don’t think many of the skills were transferable, though I did end up moving to Australia and becoming a chauffeur for the state government in 1980, so perhaps it was useful after all.
Bringing in National Service could be a good thing, but I doubt it would be very popular with young people. Still, I reckon it would do them a whole lot of good. I despair at the way a lot of young people are these days; they have a sense of entitlement.
Growing up in post-war England, I can still remember food rationing and walking to school in the rain with holes in my shoes and sitting in my wet clothes all day. They need to be toughened up a bit, though that’s probably a generational thing. But if their experience is anything like mine, they’ll have a great time.
‘Being a soldier requires a skillset and mindset that few have’
Tim Carpenter-Balmer, 48, investor
I’d gone to join the TA as a teenager a couple of times, though never completed the recruitment process. But when I went to university, I joined the Officer Training Corps in Leeds, which was the start of what would be more than 20 years of service. I then joined the London Regiment as a Platoon Commander, moved to the Midlands, rising to be a Company Commander, and for a while lectured on the history of the British Army at the University of Wolverhampton.
Although I was part-time with the military, most of the best experiences I’ve had were with them. In 2007, I served in Afghanistan for six months, which I’m incredibly proud to have done; I took part in a training mission in Uganda to train the Ugandan People’s Defence Force, and went on cross-country ski training across Europe, including France, Italy, Austria and Germany. I’ve done far more travel than I ever would have done as a civvy; there are so many life experiences you get that you just wouldn’t elsewhere.
It sounds a cliché, but it’s incredibly character-building: you need to be both physically and mentally robust to be in the Forces, and those things only get enhanced as time goes on. Being a soldier requires a skillset and mindset that not so many have.
I absolutely think that the Government should encourage more people into the Reserves, perhaps via a reduction in tuition fees for students who sign up, or a discount to employers’ National Insurance contributions for staff who do. You’ll get much better soldiers from people who want to be there, rather than people who are compelled to be there.
‘I joined the TA – and got a husband out of it’
Liz Brown, 39, photographer
I decided that I’d like to join the Army when I was about nine – though my parents tried quite hard to dissuade me. But after going to university, I ended up having my daughter soon after, and that career felt like it had slipped away from me. I gave up on it for a year or two, but aged 24, saw an ITV series about Kandahar air base in Afghanistan. It made me realise that I still had that itch to scratch, and the following day I called my local Territorial Army centre to ask about joining.
I was working as a secondary school teacher at the time, but as my local unit was the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, I joined them with a view to training as a vehicle mechanic on military trucks. The training and lifestyle were so different to what I expected, but from the very beginning I felt like I had found somewhere I really belonged. The two girls I went through basic training with are still close friends, and I’ve made many others along the way.
I’ve been on overseas exercises and ended up on the Bloodhound Supersonic Car land speed record project as part of the British Army team (I was the only reservist). Most places I go, no one knows I’m a reserve – we integrate so well into the regular Forces.
My confidence, fitness, social group and career would never have been the same had I not made that call to join the TA – and I also got a husband out of it. Leigh was the first person I spoke to on the phone there; a serendipitous meeting as he was actually only in the office because his friend had just been killed on operations in Afghanistan.
He was in charge of recruiting at the time, and there was an undeniable spark between us straight away. We got married only one year after we met, and will have been together for 15 years this summer.
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