British soldiers’ role and recruitment | Letters

John Boaler wonders why infantry numbers must be raised, another reader says the medical criteria for Sandhurst are unrealistic, and Michael Attwood believes the army isn't an attractive career any more

You report that the number of soldiers in infantry regiments has fallen to "17% below the target strength" (Army's frontline in crisis as recruitment collapses, 10 August). One explanation given for this drop is that "soldiers were being required to undertake repetitive training exercises with no other purpose than to keep them busy". If there is not enough for the infantry to do, why recruit more?

The major threats facing our country appear to be from cyber-attacks and terrorism. There is little role for the infantry in defending us from these. Perhaps it's time to scale down the size of our infantry while putting more resources into the detective work that goes into countering terrorism and into enhancing cybersecurity and defending us from cyberwarfare. There is no point keeping up infantry numbers if their role within our armed forces is diminishing.
John Boaler
Calne, Wiltshire

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