risks
Young soldiers ‘more likely to die’
22/08/2013Evening Standard
Evening Standard
ForcesWatch response to the Ministry of Defence’s statement, 22 August 2013
22/08/2013ForcesWatch
ForcesWatch
In response to the paper, ‘Young age at Army enlistment is associated with greater war zone risks’, published by ForcesWatch and Child Soldiers International (August 2013), the Ministry of Defence have issued a statement. Here we respond to their points.
Youngest Army recruits pay highest price in Afghanistan, new report shows
21/08/2013ForcesWatch and Child Soldiers International press release
ForcesWatch and Child Soldiers International press release
The risk of fatality in Afghanistan for recruits who enlisted into the British Army aged 16 and completed training has been twice as high as it has for those enlisting at 18 or above, according to a study published today on behalf of human rights groups Child Soldiers International and ForcesWatch. The authors believe the increased risk reflects the disproportionately high number of 16 year olds who join front-line Infantry roles.
Young age at Army enlistment is associated with greater war zone risks: An analysis of British Army fatalities in Afghanistan
August 2013
This paper, published by ForcesWatch and Child Soldiers International, indicates that the risk of fatality in Afghanistan for British Army recruits aged 16 and completed training has been twice as high as it has for those enlisting at 18 or above.
ForcesWatch submission to Defence Select Committee Future Army 2020 inquiry
June 2013
ForcesWatch's submission to the Defence Committee's inquiry Future Army 2020, which recomments an evaluation of the case for an independent review of the minimum age of recruitment into the Army with a view to recruiting only adults (aged 18 and above) in the future, looking at five reasons why the time is right for this.
The inescapable psychological cost of conflict
A study published in the Lancet called Violent offending by UK military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan has found that men in the UK armed forces are more likely to have been convicted of violent offences than their civilian peers. The study shows a strong link with age – that fighting and being traumatised by it tends to make those in younger age groups more likely to be violent afterwards.
US military struggling to stop suicide epidemic among war veterans
15/02/2013The Guardian
The Guardian
Last year, more active-duty soldiers killed themselves than died in combat. And after a decade of deployments to war zones, the Pentagon is bracing for things to get much worse
Fifty troops commit suicide after Iraq and Afghanistan tours
15/02/2013The Telegraph
The Telegraph
More than 50 members of the UK Armed Forces have committed suicide since serving in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, figures suggest.
Recently… on ‘moral injury’ and armed forces suicides in the US and UK
2012 was the the first year 'in at least a generation' in which a greater number of currently-serving US Army soldiers killed themselves (177) than were killed in active duty (176).
Bullying ‘seen as acceptable in Army’ as survey reveals every woman questioned was victim of unwanted attention
19/12/2012Telegraph
Telegraph
Bullying is perceived as “acceptable” among some in the Army, according to an internal report that found every single woman questioned said they had been the victim of unwanted sexual attention.