Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 19, 2005 6:40:25 GMT 12
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3446703a11,00.html
Army short of 2500 staff
17 October 2005
By COLIN MARSHALL
The army is trying to solve a 2000-strong personnel shortfall but says the reduced number is not compromising operations.
The shortfall was revealed in the Defence Capability and Resourcing Review (DCARR), completed earlier this year but only recently made public, which found that across the army, navy and air force, there was a shortage of 2500 personnel, with the army worst affected.
"The DCARR concluded that the shortfall between the numbers required to deliver the currently directed level of capability required by the Government without risk is around 2500," the report said.
Army communications manager Major Denise Mackay said today the army's share of that shortfall was about 2000.
"We are still meeting the outputs that we are required to meet but I think it would be fair to say that in a number of areas our personnel are stretched.
"We can still do our jobs but obviously you notice the difference in doing your job if you don't have five extra people to help you and you've only got two."
In May, Finance Minister Michael Cullen announced $4.6 billion in defence spending over the next 10 years to address concerns raised in the report.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe report found the army, as well as the navy and air force, was losing personnel faster than they could be replaced.
"The army is suffering significant attrition, at around 18 per cent or around 750 (people) per year, compared to its long-term average of 14.9 per cent," it said.
That meant the army was having to increase the number of people it trained just to stay level.
Majors and lieutenant colonels were in short supply at headquarters with those ranks needed out in the field.
Maj Mackay said an "Army Configuration Review" was undertaken to decide how the army needed to arrange itself in the future.
That had been signed off on September 30 but was not yet being made public, she said.
Addressing the personnel shortfall was part of that review.
"One of those things will be looking at that gap that we've got and how we're going to manage that and what we're going to do to get ourselves up to the number of troops that we'll need in the future," Maj Mackay said.
The shortfall across the three defence services followed a decline in total personnel numbers from 20,785 in June 1991 to just 12,889 in June 2004.
The report put the decline down to the reduction in the frigate fleet, disbandment of the air combat force, contracting out of some services and "efficiency".
"Limits on personnel numbers have also been imposed by the Chief of Defence Force as a response to funding constraints."
A tight labour market was also blamed and trained defence force workers were a target for other employers with the defence forces "not necessarily" able to compete with market pay rates.
The army and defence force headquarters were the worst affected by the personnel shortfall.
"Shortages are particularly severe in some trades and there are also shortages at some rank levels," the report says.
Although the defence force's budget was about $1.5 billion a year at the time the report was completed in February, that still left major funding constraints and reserve supplies of ammunition, spare parts and other equipment were "well below appropriate levels".
Most of the defence force's infrastructure was developed "during and after the Second World War" and only the navy's and air force's infrastructure was adequate.
Other problems found across the three services were a shortage of people in some trades, some weapons requiring upgrading or replacement, and a backlog of required maintenance.
Army short of 2500 staff
17 October 2005
By COLIN MARSHALL
The army is trying to solve a 2000-strong personnel shortfall but says the reduced number is not compromising operations.
The shortfall was revealed in the Defence Capability and Resourcing Review (DCARR), completed earlier this year but only recently made public, which found that across the army, navy and air force, there was a shortage of 2500 personnel, with the army worst affected.
"The DCARR concluded that the shortfall between the numbers required to deliver the currently directed level of capability required by the Government without risk is around 2500," the report said.
Army communications manager Major Denise Mackay said today the army's share of that shortfall was about 2000.
"We are still meeting the outputs that we are required to meet but I think it would be fair to say that in a number of areas our personnel are stretched.
"We can still do our jobs but obviously you notice the difference in doing your job if you don't have five extra people to help you and you've only got two."
In May, Finance Minister Michael Cullen announced $4.6 billion in defence spending over the next 10 years to address concerns raised in the report.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe report found the army, as well as the navy and air force, was losing personnel faster than they could be replaced.
"The army is suffering significant attrition, at around 18 per cent or around 750 (people) per year, compared to its long-term average of 14.9 per cent," it said.
That meant the army was having to increase the number of people it trained just to stay level.
Majors and lieutenant colonels were in short supply at headquarters with those ranks needed out in the field.
Maj Mackay said an "Army Configuration Review" was undertaken to decide how the army needed to arrange itself in the future.
That had been signed off on September 30 but was not yet being made public, she said.
Addressing the personnel shortfall was part of that review.
"One of those things will be looking at that gap that we've got and how we're going to manage that and what we're going to do to get ourselves up to the number of troops that we'll need in the future," Maj Mackay said.
The shortfall across the three defence services followed a decline in total personnel numbers from 20,785 in June 1991 to just 12,889 in June 2004.
The report put the decline down to the reduction in the frigate fleet, disbandment of the air combat force, contracting out of some services and "efficiency".
"Limits on personnel numbers have also been imposed by the Chief of Defence Force as a response to funding constraints."
A tight labour market was also blamed and trained defence force workers were a target for other employers with the defence forces "not necessarily" able to compete with market pay rates.
The army and defence force headquarters were the worst affected by the personnel shortfall.
"Shortages are particularly severe in some trades and there are also shortages at some rank levels," the report says.
Although the defence force's budget was about $1.5 billion a year at the time the report was completed in February, that still left major funding constraints and reserve supplies of ammunition, spare parts and other equipment were "well below appropriate levels".
Most of the defence force's infrastructure was developed "during and after the Second World War" and only the navy's and air force's infrastructure was adequate.
Other problems found across the three services were a shortage of people in some trades, some weapons requiring upgrading or replacement, and a backlog of required maintenance.
