Still No Defence Policy
The Government have made another addition to the patchwork which does duty as a national service and defence policy, by announcing a new offer of short-term engagements with the object of securing 186,000 more men for the peace time armed forces. As patches go, this one is no more than tolerable. The forces badly need the experienced men who have to train the next generation, and it is these men that the new offer is designed to retain. Those who undertake to serve for three or four years will get the same conditions and rates of pay as regulars, plus a bounty of £25 on acceptance which, curiously enough, the regulars do not get. The gratuity on coming out will be at the rate of £25 for each year of service. All this may attract some men, but there is nothing what- ever to allay the suspicion of the more far-sighted members of the forces that the worst disadvantage of service is not the conditions of those who are in but the prospect of prolonged maladjustment which awaits those who come out. In the wider field, those who watch each defence debate for some sign of the Government's broader intentions on the size of the forces and length of service must be beginning to wonder whether their vigils will ever be rewarded. Each time the subject comes up, as it did this week, the service members take it in turn to make points about officers' pay, marriage allowances, length of overseas service, and so on. This is no doubt necessary, but it is no more like an effective demand for a comprehensive defence policy than are the answers, if -any, to the orderly officer's cry of " Any Complaints? "
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