Nearly half of TA 'unfit for duty'

Nearly half the Territorial Army is not ready for duty if Britain has to go to war.

The Ministry of Defence has revealed that only about 24,000 of the Territorials' full strength of 40,000 are "fit for role" (capable of operations).

This follows problems the MoD has had in contacting the 127,000-strong Regular Reserve - a force notionally made up of those who have recently left the services and are still obliged to serve in a national emergency.

Earlier this year, the MoD admitted that most of the reservists had not left a reliable forwarding address.

The crisis over reserves nearly collided with reality during the Kosovo campaign, when Britain was preparing to put more than 50,000 troops in the field for a possible land operation. This could only have been achieved if most of the Territorial Army had been called out and at least 10,000 of the Regular Reserve.

Yesterday's revelation was made in a written parliamentary reply by Armed Forces Minister, Dr Lewis Moonie.

Last year only 19,589 TA members were eligible to draw their bounty payments as being "fit for role". This year the figure has improved to 23,857, but still short of the MoD's minimum target of having at least 26,000 Territorials available for active duty.