Army struggles as third of TA soldiers resign (Scotland)

[bemildred]

SCOTLAND is running out of part-time soldiers to plug gaps in the ranks of overstretched regulars serving in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan, The Herald can reveal.

As many as 37% of the Territorial Army's most-experienced members are understood to have quit in the past year, as employers and families rebel against the prospect of losing them to repeated six-month absences on dangerous military duty every three years.

The retention crisis has become so acute that students are being offered £1500 to sign up for a six-week boot-camp training course in the Outer Hebrides, designed to persuade them to stay on as "weekend warriors".

A total of 907 of the 2126 TA volunteers north of the border – or about 43% of those available – have already been called up for active service in the last 18 months. More than 70 are currently in Iraq or elsewhere.
Under the 1996 Reserve Forces Act, they can only be mobilised for one year in every three, removing them from the immediate deployment loop.

Herald

[Joey Liberal]

1. Where is Rowdy Roddy Piper when Scotland needs him???? n/t

[Cha]

2. Sorry, who is

Rowdy Roddy Piper?

And Grrrrrrrreat for Scotland..bring your lads home!

[Joey Liberal]

4. You must be too young to know who Roddy Piper is

Rowdy Roddy Piper was a professional wrestler who liked to have the bagpipes playing when he entered the ring. He also wore a kilt. He had his own show called "Piper's Pit" where he would beat up his guests. Great fun to watch:)..........

[Cha]

6. Maybe not "too young"...

Maybe not interested in wrestling, but I love everything Scottish now so even Rowdy Roddy Piper piques my interest :P

[Joey Liberal]

8. Roddy Piper was/is VERY funny n/t

[onager]

9. Watch the classic anti-Repub movie "They Live..."

Directed by John Carpenter. Rowdy Roddy played the lead.

Great movie, too. I wish Carpenter would remake it for the Bu$h era. (He made it during the Reagan years.)

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. Okay...here's everything you ever wanted to know about Roddy Piper.....

Roddy Piper
<http://bodyslamming.com/other/piper.html>

Complete bio on Piper to include the 12 television shows and 27 movies in which he has appeared.

Here's his favorite quote:

"I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass and I'm all out of bubble gum!"

[LiberalFighter]

14. gw*dipshit should had been one of those guests... darn it

[sasquatch]

3. *In a Scottish brogue*"FUCK YOU BLAIR YA BUSH BITCH YOU!!"

:D

[Cha]

7. Like George Gallaway

could say! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!

[bin.dare]

5. This is coming down to a classic test of wills ....

... of the insurgents' (in this case the iraqis) and the clueless (or more correctly, mendacious) politicians to see who can stand the heat longer. The line from the article that says it all for me is: An Army source added: "We are now seeing the backlash effect of using the TA as a cheap reinforcement pool for the regulars".

yes, ladies and gentlemen, your esteemed leaders judged they could invade a sovereign country on the cheap and get away with it. And both your countries re-elected these useless yokes. Did i forget to emphasize the word re-elect?

[edbermac]

10. Well no wonder! Here's the reason why...

All this talk about the troops not being properly equipped is 100% true...how can they give them things like flak jackets and helmets when they can't even give them some friggin' jockey shorts...

[Orsino]

12. What is it with these Scots...

...not being willing to kill and die for us?

There is a distinctly un-American cast to these statistics.

[Supersedeas]

13. how long before the RW screaming radio faces start demogoguing the

Limeys.

[consuming]

15. No army soon