Comment, analysis, news

£1m for school cadets

Bursary scheme will allocate money paid in fines by British banks caught up in the Libor rate-fixing scandal to state schools to help them offer thousands more children the chance to join military cadet forces.

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Army training scheme for long-term unemployed may be extended

Scheme piloted in Telford and Stoke can raise awareness of army reserve and make people more employable, says officer

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Young people criticise military activities in schools as government announces more funding for cadets

A week after the government pledged a further £1 million for more cadet forces in state secondary schools, a new film is launched which shows that many young people are critical of the promotion of military activities in their schools.

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The British Army frontline: women and children first

Child Soldiers International: We now face the prospect of 16 year old girls joining the army in combat roles.

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Your country needs your children – MoD targets teens to fix recruitment crisis

Amid ongoing controversy around the MoD’s struggling recruitment campaigns for the armed forces, figures published this week reveal that the Army has resorted to increasing numbers of 16-year-olds in an attempt to fix the recruitment shortfall.

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UK under fire for recruiting an ‘army of children’

MoD finds itself in the company of countries such as North Korea over use of teenage soldiers

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Questioning military academies and free schools

This article explains what we mean by  'military academies' and 'military free schools', and explores the concerns that they raise: the lack of evidence that they will raise attainment; that they can employ unqualified teachers; their limited accountability to the local community; the fact that they can set their own curriculum. Crucially, there are various agendas behind military academies and free schools, including providing employment for the growing number of veterans, and encouraging pupils to join the armed forces after they leave school. There is also unease about what military-style discipline would look like in a school environment.

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Drone Wars: Pilots reveal debilitating stress beyond virtual battlefield

"To extinguish a person's life is a very personal thing. While physically we don't experience the five senses when we engage a target — unlike [how] an infantryman might — in my experience, the emotional impact on the operator is equal."

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Arms and the Woman: Militarizing Gender Wars

You know the British Army is experiencing a crisis in recruitment when they start to make noises about ending the ban on women in combat roles.

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Take arms firms out of the Big Bang Fair

Letter signed by over 100, including ForcesWatch

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