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Background
1
The Defence Secretary's paper draws attention to the
serious manpower position in the British Army which is unlikely.
to improve in the near future (paragraphs 1-3) and concludes (paragraph 4) that there is a sound case for continuing the
previous Government's policy of reducing the order of battle of
the British Army by a further nine infantry battalions between
now and September 1972.
↑
2. A detailed statement of the Rundown is contained in Annex
A of the paper. The paper however offers the option of cadre
existence to the Royal Armoured Corps and Infantry units (e.g.
the Argylls) affected by the Rundown, subject to review in two
years time (paragraphs 6-9).
3. Paragraph 5 of the paper states that the 46 British Infantry
battalions to which the British Army will have been reduced by
September 1972 are unlikely to be sufficient to meet our commit-
ments. The Defence Secretary therefore intends to seek a
decision on the future of the Brigade of Gurkhas after his
return from the Far East.
The Army's Commitments in the 1970's
4. The Army Department recently estimated that they may need
*
51 to 56 battalions during the 1970's, the precise number
depending mainly on what assumptions are made about the situation
in Northern Ireland. These battalions would be distributed as
follows: 26 battalions for NATO, 19 battalions for outside NATO
(Hong Kong, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Berlin, Northern Ireland, Training,
Public duties), and a further 6 to 11 battalions not taken into
1968 when
account in/force levels for the 1970s were last examined,
3
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These