recruitment age

Young people criticise military activities in schools as government announces more funding for cadets

A week after the government pledged a further £1 million for more cadet forces in state secondary schools, a new film is launched which shows that many young people are critical of the promotion of military activities in their schools.

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The British Army frontline: women and children first

Child Soldiers International: We now face the prospect of 16 year old girls joining the army in combat roles.

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How did Britain let 250,000 underage soldiers fight in WW1?

A BBC resource. Includes a final section on 'could this happen today'? At the outbreak of war in 1914, the British Army had 700,000 available men. Germany’s wartime army was over 3.7 million. When a campaign for volunteers was launched, thousands answered the call to fight. Among them were 250,000 boys and young men under the age of 19, the legal limit for armed service overseas.

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Your country needs your children – MoD targets teens to fix recruitment crisis

Amid ongoing controversy around the MoD’s struggling recruitment campaigns for the armed forces, figures published this week reveal that the Army has resorted to increasing numbers of 16-year-olds in an attempt to fix the recruitment shortfall.

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UK under fire for recruiting an ‘army of children’

MoD finds itself in the company of countries such as North Korea over use of teenage soldiers

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Defence Committee report challenges the MoD (again) to produce a ‘robust and thorough’ review of under 18 recruitment

The Defence Select Committee have today released their report of inquiry into the MoD's Future Army 2020 plan. Amid the concerns about the strategy of increasing the proportion of reservists in relation to regular forces, the report calls on the MoD “to respond in detail to the argument that the Army could phase out the recruitment of minors without detriment to the Army 2020 plans”. Read our submission to the inquiry here.

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FUTURE ARMY 2020: Defence Committee increases pressure to MoD to raise enlistment age to 18

The Defence Select Committee has increased the pressure on the MoD to stop enlisting minors, in a report published today.

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ForcesWatch submission to Defence Select Committee inquiry on Military Casualties

ForcesWatch's submission to the Defence Select Committee inquiry on Military Casualties draws on our research published in The Last Ambush.

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Militarisation in everyday life in the UK: a conference report

In response to the recent developments in the UK, there has been an increase in critical academic studies, media coverage, and work by campaigning organisations and others on these issues. On 19 October 2013, around 70 academics, activists, campaigners, and writers came together in London at the Militarisation in Everyday Life in the UK conference organised by ForcesWatch.

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Welsh bishops urge army to raise enlistment age to 18

The Ministry of Defence has come under pressure from the Church in Wales and campaign group Child Soldiers International which is calling for an end to recruitment of under-18s to the Army

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