UK's last 1000 soldiers head out to the Balkans

This can't be good.

Very grim news about troop readiness in the UK. Stretched beyond thin, below recruiting goals, equipment vital to their mission in short supply. (ed. note: It's from the Telegraph so I feel I should also add, "if true".)

Britain's overstretched Armed Forces are to send as many as 1,000 troops to the Balkans in a move that will see the military's last remaining reserve unit deployed on operations.

The imminent departure of the 1st Bn Welsh Guards to Kosovo has been ordered in response to fears that the newly formed independent state could slide into "ethnic cleansing". But last night MPs and former military chiefs described the move as "irresponsible" and "demented", accusing the Ministry of Defence of being "bankrupt".

The deployment - part of Britain's commitment to the Nato-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) - takes place at a time of growing pressure on the military. It will mean that more than 14,000 British troops are on overseas operations, a figure last equalled at the end of the Iraq War in May 2003.
The Army is currently 3,800 men under strength, virtually every infantry battalion is undermanned and one in 14 serving soldiers is not fit for active service.

In the next few weeks thousands of Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade will fly out to Helmand in southern Afghanistan for the start of a widely anticipated Taliban "spring offensive".


Sources have also indicated that despite the troop shortages, the British Task Force in Helmand might need to be reinforced before the summer in order to hold on to the strategic town of Musa Qala, which was taken from the Taliban in December.

The Paras, who fought a bitter campaign against the Taliban in 2006, will arrive in Helmand as the future of the Nato mission in Afghanistan is reaching crisis point. Both Britain and the US, the main contributors to the Nato force in Afghanistan, want France, Germany and Italy to share more of the burden in the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabol - recognised Taliban strongholds.

The lack of available troops has also forced the MoD to call up two entire Territorial Army regiments to serve with the United Nations in Cyprus, to free troops for operations elsewhere.
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Commenting on the Kosovo deployment, one senior officer last night said: "We are now in a position where we will struggle to cope with an emergency. It is a case of 'fingers crossed' that nothing happens for the next few months."

Lord Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, a former chief of the defence staff, said: "This deployment is another example of the overstretch facing the armed forces. My fear is that our servicemen can't train properly for 'tomorrow's war'. The MoD is bankrupt and no one wants to work for a bankrupt organisation."

Commander John Muxworthy, the chief executive of the UK Defence Association, said: "It is irresponsible of this government to deploy its entire reserve force. But this is the result of 25 years of underfunding of the armed forces. We are in a position where the cupboard is bare."
The military overstretch has been described by General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army, as "unsustainable".

Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP and a former infantry commander, added: "Committing all of your reserves is a basic failure of military planning. This is a demented action."

News of the deployment to Kosovo, where 15,000 Nato troops - but just 30 of them British - are currently based, can be revealed after the Royal United Services Institute described Britain's armed forces as being in a state of "chronic disrepair" through a lack of funding.

The MoD was also strongly criticised on Friday over the deaths of Captain James Philippson, 29, Lance Sergeant Chris Casey, 27 and Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath, 22, all of whom were killed in Afghanistan. At two separate inquest coroners found that a lack of equipment contributed to their deaths.

In Helmand, commanders expect the "tempo" of operations to soar as many Taliban fighters leave their farms following the end of the poppy harvest in April to take up arms against Nato forces. Any sustained attack would mean that the 7,800-strong task force might need to be reinforced, adding even further pressure on the armed forces.

Commanders had hoped that an extra fleet of Chinooks would have been available for operations but software problems have meant that the helicopters will not be ready for another year, it can also be disclosed.

The helicopter shortages will force troops to travel by road, making them vulnerable to attack from mines and improvised explosive devices.

A spokesman for the MoD said: "We are fully committed to our role within KFOR and we do not anticipate that the deployment of the Operational Reserve Force will place significant additional pressures on our other overseas operations."