士气低迷之下英军面临“退伍潮”

Britain's SHAME: Thousands of soldiers quit the army as morale hits historic low

不列颠之耻：士气极度低迷之下大量士兵脱离军队

MORE than 15,000 soldiers quit the British Army last year as commanders struggled against falling morale.

尽管指挥官们努力挽救低迷的士气，但去年仍有超过15000名士兵离开了不列颠军队。

The shocking figure represents almost one in five of the 83,340 soldiers serving and is thought to be the greatest single fall in 20 years.

这个冲击性数字差不多是83340（此为英国陆军总人数）名服役士兵中的两成，而且被视作20年来的最严重失败。

According to official Ministry of Defence figures only 1,759 of the 15,325 regular troops to have left in the year leading to November did so because their time was up.

国防部的官方数据显示这些在去年11月前离开的的15325名正规军士兵中只有1759人是因为服役时间到了。

Nearly half – 7,439 – quit early, exceeding the 7,260 who left the Armed Forces during the previous year. There are now concerns that worsening conditions and a lack of “operational tempo” is failing to keep soldiers motivated.

差不多有近一半即7439人是提前退伍的，这超过了之前7260人的数据，现在有人担心糟糕的环境以及缺乏“作战节奏”致使军心涣散。

The situation was exacerbated by 3,325 who were sacked on disciplinary grounds. A further 2,337 were “medically discharged”.

愈发恶化的情况是有3325名士兵因违纪被开除，另有2337人是“医疗解职”。（此是指士兵因心理或生理问题无法继续服役）

Former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth MP said: “There is little doubt morale is under enormous pressure. Soldiers are concerned about the Future Accommodation Model, which may see them forced to rent or buy properties when what families actually want is to live in an Army environment.

前国防部长Gerald Howarth 议员说：“毫无疑问的是军心正处于重压之下，士兵们关心未来的居住模式，即可能会有他们的家人想住在军队周边时却要被迫租房或买房的情况。

“Particularly concerning is the effect of ‘historic war crime’ allegations. There is an increasing feeling that soldiers or veterans who find themselves arraigned for doing what they thought was right for their country are pretty much on their own.

颇受关注的还有“历史战争罪行”这一指控。认为自己为国而战问心无愧的士兵和退伍军人却发现自己因此被指控

“Veterans who are now pensioners are waking up to allegations over events in Northern Ireland 45 years ago.”

“正在领退休金的老兵发现他们因45年前的北爱尔兰事件而受到指控”

Andy Smith, of the UK National Defence Agency, said repeated annual cuts have taken away any feeling of job security: “This reinforces what we have been saying for a long time – people in the Services have no confidence in the Government’s commitment to defence.

英国国防部的Andy Smith说年年削减军费已让人感觉缺乏工作保障：“一直都说要加强，但服役官兵们已经不信政府的承诺了。”

“Any sense of certainty about the future has been taken away in a 10-year period which saw the defence budget shrink and annual reductions to the size and resources of the Armed Forces.”

“10年来看着军费不断缩减，军队规模和资源愈发减少已经感受不到未来了。”

Last night an MoD spokesman said: “The Army has enough people to perform all of its tasks to keep Britain safe and continues to offer exciting opportunities that inspire the best of our young people. We’ve seen an increase in recruitment over the last year and we expect this trend to continue.”

昨晚（3月19号）一位国防部发言人说：“军队人数足够完成其任务以保卫不列颠安全，并会提供激动人心的机会来鼓舞那些我们最优秀的年轻人。我们可以看到去年入伍人数有所增加且我们希望能保持这一势头。”

But this was rejected by Col Richard Kemp, who commanded British forces in Afghanistan.

但在阿富汗指挥不列颠军队的Richard Kemp上校对此却嗤之以鼻。

“By its own admission the Army is 3,000 troops down,” he said.

“军队承认有3000人的缺口”他说

“These latest figures show that while they may be recruiting, there is a serious retention issue. We have witnessed an erosion of service benefits, legal vendettas and, since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a lack of operational tempo.”

“最新的数据显示招募时仍有严重的痼疾存在。我们发现了服役津贴被贪污和法律追杀，以及自从阿富汗撤军以来都缺乏战斗节奏。”

Meanwhile, more than 800 UK troops are set to deploy to Estonia with Nato as part of one of the biggest British deployments to Eastern Europe in decades.

与此同时作为几十年来不列颠在东欧的最大行动的一部分，超过800名英军士兵会被部署到爱沙尼亚。

Speaking to the Sunday Express last night defence secretary Michael Fallon said: “I’m proud that the UK is leading the Estonian battle group and providing vital reassurance to a key Nato partner in the face of Russian aggression.”

昨晚国防部长Michael Fallon 说：“我自豪于英国在爱沙尼亚战斗群中处于领导地位，且对直面俄罗斯入侵的北约重要伙伴提供了有力保障。”