TYPES OF RESERVIST AND MANPOWER STRENGTH

There have been reserve land forces in Britain since medieval times. Over time, the titles and structures of these reserve forces changed, but until World War 2 essentially comprised four separate elements: Volunteers, Militia, and Yeomanry provided the part-time, voluntary territorial forces; while retired Regular Army personnel made up the Army Regular Reserve on a compulsory basis, subject to diminishing obligations with age.

Today the Army Reserve is formed from the same components – with the difference that the erstwhile Volunteers, Militia, and Yeomanry are now incorporated into a single volunteer force as the Territorial Army (TA). Some 40% of regular Army recruits are said to come from the TA and Army Cadet Force.

Army Reserve personnel strength

As of early 2009, the total army reserve strength amounted to some 168,720 personnel of all ranks.

TYPES OF RESERVIST

Members of the Army Reserve fall into two main components:

• Retired regular reserve

• Volunteer reserve

Retired Regular Reserve

The Regular reserve is comprised of people who have a mobilisation obligation by virtue of their former service in the regular army. For the most part, these reservists constitute a standby rather than ready reserve, and are rarely mobilised except in times of national emergency or incipient war. Some 420 retired regular reservists were called-up for Iraq operations in 2003.

The Regular Reserve consists of Individual Reservists (IR), some of whom may have varying obligations in respect of training and mobilisation, depending on factors such as length of regular service, age and sex.

Many ex-regulars join the Volunteer Reserve Forces after leaving regular service – giving them a dual Reserve status.

Volunteer Reserve

The Volunteer reserve consists mainly of people who have joined the Territorial Army directly from the civilian community. These personnel form the main part of the active, ready reserve for the British Army, train regularly, and are paid at the same rates as the regular forces on a pro-rata basis.

Most TA volunteers commit to a minimum of some 40 days training a year, comprising one drill night in a week, one week end in a month and 14 days annual training. Some reservists exceed these minima.

The Reserve Forces Act 1996 provided for other categories of reservists, such as:

• Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) – reservists who wish to serve full time with regulars for a predetermined period in a specific posting

• Additional Duties Commitment – part-time service for a specified period in a particular post.

The Act also provided new categories of service, including:

• Sponsored Reserves, being contractor staff who have agreed to join the Reserves and have a liability to be called up when required to continue their civilian work on operations alongside the Service personnel who depend upon them. Some 2,000 sponsored reservists have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Territorial Army units are widely dispersed across the country - much more so than the Regular Forces, and in many areas they are the visible face of the Armed Forces. They help to keep society informed about the Armed Forces, and of the importance of defence to the nation, and have an active role supporting the Cadet organisations. They provide a means by which the community as a whole can contribute to Britain’s security.