Recruiting is carried out to attract sufficient men and women of the right
quality to meet the Army's personnel requirements. Selection is the process that
is carried out to ensure that those who are accepted into the Army have the
potential to be good soldiers and are capable of being trained to carry out
their chosen trade. Training is the process of preparing those men and women for
their careers in the Army. Training is progressive and continues all the way
through a soldier and an officers’ career.
The Army Recruitment and Training Division is responsible for the delivery of
army recruiting and training.
ARMY RECRUITING AND TRAINING DIVISION
The Army Recruitment and Training Division (ARTD) is responsible for each stage
of a potential recruit’s progress from the recruiting office, through a Recruit
Selection Centre, into recruit training, through specialist courses before they
are finally posted to their unit in the Field Army. The ARTD is headed by the
Director General Army Recruitment and Training (DG ART), a Major General who is
responsible for ensuring that sufficient men and women of the right quality are
recruited and trained to meet the needs of the service.
The ARTD Headquarters is based at Upavon in Wiltshire, close to many of the
training units. Recruiting is carried out from over 100 towns and cities
throughout the country, and individual training is conducted at some 40 schools.
With a permanent staff of about 10,000 across the whole of the recruiting and
training organisation, the ARTD is responsible for Ministry of Defence land,
buildings and field assets valued at more than one and a quarter billion pounds.
The ARTD is required to enlist between 7,000 and 10,000 recruits each year
(depending upon the requirement) and to be involved in the training of about
60,000 officers and soldiers (regular and reserve). ARTD conducts over 1,000
different types of courses with about 8,000 officers and soldiers under training
at any time. Across all training phases, the average annual unit cost of
training a soldier or officer is believed to be in excess of £20,000.
ARTD operations are divided into four inter-related functions: Recruiting,
Recruit training (Phase 1), Specialist training (Phase 2), and Career training
(Phase 3).
ARTD was formerly named Army Training and Recruitment Agency. It was renamed
ARTD on 1 July 2006.
RECRUITING
An MoD committee called the Standing Committee Army Manpower Forecasts (SCAMF)
calculates the numbers that need to be enlisted to maintain the Army's personnel
at the correct level. The Committee needs to take account of changing unit
establishments, wastage caused by servicemen and women leaving the service at
the end of their engagements, and those who might choose to leave before their
engagements come to an end (PVR Premature Voluntary Release). The number
required in each trade in the Army is assessed and figures are published at six
monthly intervals so that adjustments may be made during the year.
Within ARTD, the Recruiting Group (in association with Capita plc) runs all Army
Recruiting from the headquarters in Upavon. Recruiting activities take place all
over the country, using the network of Careers Offices, about 60 Schools
Advisers, over 20 Army Youth Teams and Regimental Recruiting Teams. The
Commander Recruiting Group, a Brigadier serving in ARTD and his staff, located
throughout the United Kingdom are responsible for the recruiting and selection
to meet the personnel targets.
Potential recruits are attracted into the Army in a number of ways including
advertisements on the television, on the internet and in the press. Permanently
established recruiting teams from many Regiments and Corps tour the country and
staff from the Armed Forces Careers Offices (AFCO) and Army Careers Information
Offices (ACIO) visit schools, youth clubs and job centres. There is a network of
AFCOs and ACIOs located throughout the UK and Army Careers Advisers who access
schools and universities throughout the country. Young, recently trained
soldiers are also sent back to their home towns and schools to talk to their
friends about life in the Army and are regularly interviewed by the local press.
The overall army recruiting cost for 2012-2013 was in the region of £122 million
(the latest figure available). The advertising cost for reserve recruitment
during 2014-2015 was £3.8 million.
Annual Army recruiting figures (intake to untrained strength) during the recent
past are as follows: |
Year |
2012/13 |
2013/14 |
2014/15 |
Army
Total |
10,300 |
7,020 |
6,890 |
|