IT HAS long been known among armed service top brass that a bad economy is good for recruitment.
Now new figures show that as the credit crunch took hold this year, the numbers of people signing up for active service in the army, navy and the air force rocketed.
Senior army figures say the year-on-year 14% increase is the direct result of the
credit crunch, as hundreds of young men and women choose a guaranteed income in the services rather than taking their chances on the high street.
The statistics, released by the Ministry of Defence, show that Britain's training barracks will have an extra 2,190 recruits in 2008-9, compared with the previous 12 months. Across all the armed services, Britain is now running at 96.8% of its full-time trained strength requirement.
The rise in Scotland – where recruitment to the Royal Regiment of Scotland is expected to be up by 5% – is less marked, possibly because there are currently lower rates of unemployment north of the border. Nevertheless, the Regiment is now running close to its 2,935 capacity, at 2,506 soldiers strong.
The sudden surge in numbers is also being seen in the United States, where new recruits are being told they will have to wait five weeks before entering boot camp because of the swelling numbers.
The number of personnel choosing to extend their period of service is also understood to be on the increase. More than 3,000 serving men and women have taken advantage of incentive schemes designed to encourage them to stay on, ensuring that the number of people leaving the armed forces is now at its lowest for four years.
The rush to army barracks is happening despite the mounting death toll of British troops in Afghanistan. Last week, three British soldiers were killed in Helmand province, including 24-year-old marine Alexander Lucas. The soldier, based in Peebles, had just become a father.
But army recruitment services are set to step up their efforts to bring on board workers who may be laid off during the credit crunch, actively seeking those in the construction trade who may wish to pursue careers within the armed services.
A spokesman for the MoD said: "No one has ever been made redundant in the armed forces. The retention figures are particularly strong at present. You always get soldiers coming up for retirement, but many are choosing to extend that period."
Earlier this year, the Royal Regiment of Scotland was heading for lower recruitment figures than last year, as the economy powered on. But the MoD estimates that, by next April, they will have recruited far more.
The Regimental Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, Alan Whitelaw, said: "Over the past two years, recruitment has been markedly down, which is a factor of a strong economy."
But he added: "It is true that when there is an economic downturn, recruitment tends to go up. The downturn in the economy will have an effect although it will be different in different parts of the country."
The north of England, where the credit crunch has hit hard, is among the areas of the country where recruitment is as its strongest, the MoD said.
The surge in recruitment means that ministers are likely to hit their targets for troop numbers soon. There are currently 173,270 troops in Britain against a target of 179,060.
Defence Minister Kevan Jones said: "It is encouraging to see that overall the gains to trained strength have increased once again.
"At a time when the armed forces are heavily committed to operations, recruitment and retention of high quality people is more important than ever."
The increase in troop numbers will be particularly welcomed by military chiefs who are warning of "burn out" within the armed forces as the country fights wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It comes amid warnings that the constant demands of active service means that troops are lacking the sharpness which comes from the crucial training exercises which they carry out at home.
The increase in troop numbers also comes with the Armed Services expected to be called on to increase numbers in Afghanistan, with President-elect Barack Obama promising to enact a "surge" in the war-torn country.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday suggested that the UK would assent to Obama's demands.
"We're waiting to see what the Obama strategy is," he said. "If there are requests for help – whether economic, social or military– we'll look at them hard. We've never been in blanket refusal."
