The Ministry of Defense wants to get more people to join the army reserve so that they will let some people over 50 join.
The maximum age for former regular army soldiers has gone up from 43 to 52, and the full age for former officers has gone up from 35 to 57. The changes were made to reflect the population’s age and health, and the MoD says that this “in turn increases the number of people who could be recruited.”
In the year ending in October, 590 more people joined the army reserve than in the year before. This brought the total number of recruits to 3,840.
Despite a multimillion-pound TV and online advertising campaign to get more people to join the three armed forces’ reserves, the number of reservists only went up by 20 to 19,310 due to attrition.
As the regular army loses soldiers, David Cameron has promised to increase the number of reservists to 30,000 in the next four years. It is now just over 94,000, down by 8,000.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said, “We have no regrets about changing the age requirement for former regular soldiers who want to join the reserves and share their wealth of knowledge and experience.” All recruits must meet strict fitness standards, or they could be kicked out of the army.”
Julian Brazier, in charge of the reserves, said that reservists are helping the military in Britain and around the world more and more.
“We’ve always known that getting our reserve forces back in shape wouldn’t happen overnight. But one year into our five-year plan, we are making steady progress, and more people are joining the reserves,” he said.
“By putting £1.8 billion into our reserve forces, fully integrating them with our regulars, and ensuring they have the best training and equipment, we’re showing that we care about those who are already in the military and want to join in the future.”
For people who join the army reserve directly, the age limit stays at 43. Still, the age limit for specialist commissioning has increased from 45 to 50. Specialists have a lot of knowledge or experience in a particular field.
A former officer who knows about recruiting reservists said that the army was being told to take on anyone who wanted to join. He told The Times, “If you have two legs and two arms, you’re in.”