U.K. Defense Secretary Philip Hammond revealed future reserve forces plans that includes providing more support and growth, while dropping the more than a century old name of “Territorial Army” in favor of “Army Reserve.”
“We are revitalizing our Reserve Forces, reversing the decline of the recent past, growing their trained strength and investing an additional ($2.7 billion) over 10 years to do this,” Hammond said. “This marks a significant step forward as we change our relationship with reservists, their families and employers; dramatically improving what we offer them. Among the new measures, individuals will no longer feel penalized for being a reservist and small companies will get financial help if they employ and support a reservist.”
The government’s new white paper, “Reserves in the Future Force 2020,” is expected to be a significant step forward in plans to create a new, fully integrated reserve force that is “well-trained, well-equipped and well-funded,” the ministry said in a statement.
The United States moved toward the total integrated force concept over the years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.K. military leaders have met with the Chief of the U.S. Army Reserves to help them examine what the United States has done as they worked out the way forward for U.K. reserves.
Chief of the General Staff, Gen. Sir Peter Wall said: “Today’s white paper gives the Army important clarity on how it will generate an integrated Army of Regulars and Reserves. The Army Reserve will be more highly trained, better equipped and better paid. It has a key role to play in our nation’s security and it will offer its soldiers plenty of challenge and adventure.
Created for homeland defense in 1908, the Territorial Army comprises about a quarter of the total British Army strength. In 1967 the TA was tasked to provide routine support for the regular army overseas. Renaming the force is to “to better reflect its enhanced role and its full integration into the ‘whole force,’ the ministry said.
The reserves are expected to grow to some 35,000 across all three services, and measures revealed in the report are expected to provide support and incentives to reservists, their families and employers.
About $122 million will be invested in the Army Reserve estate to be able to handle the larger numbers, with $167.8 million invested across the tri-service reserve estate.
Among the measures to support reserves include: introduction of paid annual leave when training as well as on operations, and as of April 2015, for the first time, reserves will have access to pension entitlements on training and operations. Training will increase to 40 days per year, up from 35, and reserves will have access to key defense health services.
There are changes affecting employers, as well: small and medium size employers will receive an approximately $764.80 financial award per month per reservist. This will be added to the allowances already available when reservist employees are mobilized. Employers also will receive more notice so they can plan for reservist employee absences.
As the Army rebalances with the integration of active and reserve force, reservists will need to be better trained, equipped and supported, thus training will include work abroad, collective training at the sub-unit level and training in partnership with regular army units.
More equipment will have to be available, including light reconnaissance vehicles and Bowman communications. Another program is working to ensure the equality of personal equipment used by regulars and reserves.
Altogether, the three services will grow by 50 percent or more. By 2018, the trained strength of the Army Reserve is expected to be 30,000, 3,100 in the Royal Naval and Royal Marines Reserves and 1,800 in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
Hammond said, “These changes are going to help us build a new relationship with society, and with this new relationship I am confident that we are going to be able to grow and sustain our Reserves so that we have the future Reserve Forces the nation requires.”
The Army 2020 redesign is expected to consist of 82,000 regulars and an expanded volunteer Army Reserve of 30,000.
The White Paper, which was initiated in late 2012, included consulting the public, the ministry said. It received more than 3,000 responses from a wide range of groups including reservists, their families, employers and regulars. A summary of responses has been published alongside the white paper.