Reservists must become more lethal to double Army's fighting power by 2027

Reservists are needed now more than ever and should be upskilled to become even more lethal, says the new Commander of the 19th Light Brigade, the Army's first fully reservist brigade since the Second World War.

Speaking to BFBS Forces News, Brigadier Lisa Brooks, said: "The threat, the strategic context that we now find ourselves in, all the geo-political frictions and challenges that we see going on across the world, the imperative has changed.

"The training that we are delivering and doing is far different, it is much more focused on a warfighting state."

#bfbsforcesnews #news #army #soldier #military #nato

[OneTwoMark]

People underestimate the importantance of resevists. Less than 1% of the fighting force were regulars in WW2. Which means we had a lot of soldiers unprepared that had to be trained. The main reason a lot of people don't join regulars is because they have better life prospects in civi street. If we doubled down on reserves, giving major incentives such as perhaps less tax or other benefits we'd get more civis into the reservists, bolster the depleting regualars with reserves and have an overall nation that can work in the economy but is also ready to fight at moments notice. Ofc regs are still needed and are better suited for small scale war, but reserves are key for anything bigger.

[AK-usdi]

The Army: "Reservists must become more lethal by 2027."
Also the Army: "We're cancelling training for a load of reservist units until the next training year."

[Liam]

The army needs to give us reservists more opportunities to go away for training or deployments.

[HMSDaring]

*Army must double in size to increase fighting power. 75000 regulars, 50 Apaches and 140 Challengers is no fighting force.

[PETER-cn]

Well, I did 20 years in the TA infantry (ranks & commissioned) and with a quick update could still do my old job now in my 60's. I may not be able to do the 1 1/2 mile in under 12 minutes now, but I will get there - ready to get stuck in. As a WW1 song said " If England needs a hand, well here it is!".

[emanuel]

More lethal? They could start with getting up to date equipment to the units. My unit is still using the A2s and we havent even got enough HMNVS' to equip a platoon with.

[jjsmallpiece]

Much better if the government invested properly in the regular army and increased manpower and equipment

[gibso]

I trained Reservists for 8 years, they can do it, but they are not trusted by the Government or REGULAR ARMY, they are afraid the Government will use the Reservists as an excuse to cut them even more.

[deanrobinson]

A massive increase in funding needed, a complete overhaul in procurement needed such waste of funds is criminal, and a change back to the forces being in charge of recruiting, capita hasnt worked yet still get awarded contract

[TheFunkibunch]

Our reserve forces play a crucial role in national and international security alongside their regular service friends. Thank you for your service all service members past and present

[Ytwhna]

8th battalion? We got rid of all these prestigious regiments and just called them all The Rifles.

[oldbanger]

Well done. Your Role is so versatile. Thank you for your Service

[thesaltycabbage]

Become more lethal.. removes armour because it gets a little warm 😂

[steveh]

Stop blagging. We are the weakest since 18th century. Tier 2 Im afraid . 60 year old Bulldog 432s, 40 year old Warriors. Used these in 1988...

[WheelieMacBin]

It's good that they are doing more than they used to. When I was in the TA from 1986 - 1991, in a specialist unit, I had the distinct impression that the main focus was on our trade skill, a skill that the army was very short of back then. We got minimal range time, and our vehicles were usually on their last legs. I wasn't infantry, but I would have liked to have had more weapons handling experience, so as not to be a liability in a combat situation. My personal weapon was the Sterling SMG.

[connermacfarlane]

Reservist of 5 years here, there is not enough funding.

You cannot expect the same output of a regular battalion if the input is not the same. What seems to escape a lot of people Is that this is a Friday - Sunday deal, a lot of workplaces arent supportive and so most of the time to go on big exercises requires personal annual leave. I think there needs to be more support and much more funding if this is the objective because at the moment it isn't sustainable and we are not a capable fighting force.

[ScottStokes-yd]

Be careful of what you wish for. Reservists have jobs and families, what’s more important? Not fighting a foe that shouldn’t exist. Russia is not the enemy!

[Npol-eq]

Thanks for your services 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[Jeffybonbon]

Train hard fight easy Swift and Bold Guys

[davidwhittington]

Being an ex member of 4th Battalion Royal Green Jackets TA now the Rifles, we always had a 8 man recon crew with our unit. Am I to understand, it took a Rifleman to suggest using a recon team again. WTF??