Army looks to recruit direct into senior ranks, breaking with tradition
ARMY leaders could be recruited directly from the civilian world rather than rising through the ranks, under plans being considered as a way of bringing in specialist skills for modern warfare.
The British Army show the rigorous ‘de-training' of service dogs
In the past the army has had a tradition of promoting senior staff through the ranks with personnel working their way up through the ranks from the bottom.
But that could be overturned with recruits being taken direct from industries working in areas such as cyber technology, aviation technology and logistics.
The plan for “lateral entry” is being devised by General Sir Nick Carter, Chief of the General Staff, with the first recruits still being “a year or two away”.
Theresa May inspects the latest recruits to pass out from Sandhurst
s an institution we are bottom fed. In other words we recruit people who are youngsters and then grow them through a career. I think that the modern way of working suggests that as we embrace a lot of the specialisms that we have got to embrace, we are go
The move is designed to try to combat the shortfalls in high-tech skills.
Sir Nick, 58, stressed his scheme would not apply to the Army’s frontline fighting combat arms.
So-called lateral entry already takes place within the reservists and the army says the policy is paying off, with high calibre staff being recruited from a number of areas such as industry, government, academia and the public sector.
Sir Nick told The Telegraph: “As an institution we are bottom fed. In other words we recruit people who are youngsters and then grow them through a career. I think that the modern way of working suggests that as we embrace a lot of the specialisms that we have got to embrace, we are going to have to offer different career structures.
“I suspect that nearly as much as 30 per cent of the Army will be specialists in the future.
“How we supply those specialist career streams, often probably with lateral entry and maybe sharing people with industry because all of us are struggling with the so-called science, technology, engineering and maths skills, is something we will have to think about in the future.”
Cadets from Sandhurst during their passing out parade
Army sources suggested the first recruitment was likely to be to ranks such as captain, major or non-commissioned officers, but in future it could extend to positions as senior as brigadier.
In a potentially controversial move positions would skip basic training and weapons drills and not be held accountable to basic fitness standards.
Sir Nick said the Army was “probably a year or two away” from the the move, which would need profound changes to careers structures and the way the Army recognises status.
The Army may need to bring in new senior non-commissioned officer ranks he suggested.
General Sir Nick Carter has said the army could start lateral recruitment
He said: “We may need to adopt a more American-style approach. They have these people called chief warrant officers. A chief warrant officer is typically a pilot or avionics officer who moves up through this different system of status and I think that the British Army is going to have to think about doing that sort of thing as well.”
But he predicted the Army’s combat arms would remain unchanged in his lifetime.
He said: “I think we will still deliver that effect through a bottom-fed delivery system in the way that we understand it, but I think that the cursor will move in other areas.”