士氣低迷之下英軍面臨“退伍潮”

Britain's SHAME: Thousands of soldiers quit the army as morale hits historic low

不列顛之恥：士氣極度低迷之下大量士兵脫離軍隊

MORE than 15,000 soldiers quit the British Army last year as commanders struggled against falling morale.

儘管指揮官們努力挽救低迷的士氣，但去年仍有超過15000名士兵離開了不列顛軍隊。

The shocking figure represents almost one in five of the 83,340 soldiers serving and is thought to be the greatest single fall in 20 years.

這個衝擊性數字差不多是83340（此爲英國陸軍總人數）名服役士兵中的兩成，而且被視作20年來的最嚴重失敗。

According to official Ministry of Defence figures only 1,759 of the 15,325 regular troops to have left in the year leading to November did so because their time was up.

國防部的官方數據顯示這些在去年11月前離開的的15325名正規軍士兵中只有1759人是因爲服役時間到了。

Nearly half – 7,439 – quit early, exceeding the 7,260 who left the Armed Forces during the previous year. There are now concerns that worsening conditions and a lack of “operational tempo” is failing to keep soldiers motivated.

差不多有近一半即7439人是提前退伍的，這超過了之前7260人的數據，現在有人擔心糟糕的環境以及缺乏“作戰節奏”致使軍心渙散。

The situation was exacerbated by 3,325 who were sacked on disciplinary grounds. A further 2,337 were “medically discharged”.

愈發惡化的情況是有3325名士兵因違紀被開除，另有2337人是“醫療解職”。（此是指士兵因心理或生理問題無法繼續服役）

Former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth MP said: “There is little doubt morale is under enormous pressure. Soldiers are concerned about the Future Accommodation Model, which may see them forced to rent or buy properties when what families actually want is to live in an Army environment.

前國防部長Gerald Howarth 議員說：“毫無疑問的是軍心正處於重壓之下，士兵們關心未來的居住模式，即可能會有他們的家人想住在軍隊周邊時卻要被迫租房或買房的情況。

“Particularly concerning is the effect of ‘historic war crime’ allegations. There is an increasing feeling that soldiers or veterans who find themselves arraigned for doing what they thought was right for their country are pretty much on their own.

頗受關注的還有“歷史戰爭罪行”這一指控。認爲自己爲國而戰問心無愧的士兵和退伍軍人卻發現自己因此被指控

“Veterans who are now pensioners are waking up to allegations over events in Northern Ireland 45 years ago.”

“正在領退休金的老兵發現他們因45年前的北愛爾蘭事件而受到指控”

Andy Smith, of the UK National Defence Agency, said repeated annual cuts have taken away any feeling of job security: “This reinforces what we have been saying for a long time – people in the Services have no confidence in the Government’s commitment to defence.

英國國防部的Andy Smith說年年削減軍費已讓人感覺缺乏工作保障：“一直都說要加強，但服役官兵們已經不信政府的承諾了。”

“Any sense of certainty about the future has been taken away in a 10-year period which saw the defence budget shrink and annual reductions to the size and resources of the Armed Forces.”

“10年來看着軍費不斷縮減，軍隊規模和資源愈發減少已經感受不到未來了。”

Last night an MoD spokesman said: “The Army has enough people to perform all of its tasks to keep Britain safe and continues to offer exciting opportunities that inspire the best of our young people. We’ve seen an increase in recruitment over the last year and we expect this trend to continue.”

昨晚（3月19號）一位國防部發言人說：“軍隊人數足夠完成其任務以保衛不列顛安全，並會提供激動人心的機會來鼓舞那些我們最優秀的年輕人。我們可以看到去年入伍人數有所增加且我們希望能保持這一勢頭。”

But this was rejected by Col Richard Kemp, who commanded British forces in Afghanistan.

但在阿富汗指揮不列顛軍隊的Richard Kemp上校對此卻嗤之以鼻。

“By its own admission the Army is 3,000 troops down,” he said.

“軍隊承認有3000人的缺口”他說

“These latest figures show that while they may be recruiting, there is a serious retention issue. We have witnessed an erosion of service benefits, legal vendettas and, since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a lack of operational tempo.”

“最新的數據顯示招募時仍有嚴重的痼疾存在。我們發現了服役津貼被貪污和法律追殺，以及自從阿富汗撤軍以來都缺乏戰鬥節奏。”

Meanwhile, more than 800 UK troops are set to deploy to Estonia with Nato as part of one of the biggest British deployments to Eastern Europe in decades.

與此同時作爲幾十年來不列顛在東歐的最大行動的一部分，超過800名英軍士兵會被部署到愛沙尼亞。

Speaking to the Sunday Express last night defence secretary Michael Fallon said: “I’m proud that the UK is leading the Estonian battle group and providing vital reassurance to a key Nato partner in the face of Russian aggression.”

昨晚國防部長Michael Fallon 說：“我自豪於英國在愛沙尼亞戰鬥羣中處於領導地位，且對直面俄羅斯入侵的北約重要夥伴提供了有力保障。”