[POWERJIM]

Army 'misleading' potential recruits

Potential recruits are being given a "misleading" picture of life in the Army as war is "glamorised", a leading charity has warned.

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust says vital information, including the risks a career with the Army poses, are being omitted from campaigns which are now targeting children as young as seven.

The report claims efforts to attract young people to join up are intensifying, especially among those below the recruitment age of 16. But, partly owing to the negative publicity over the Iraq war, fewer people are signing up.

The report says: "Recruitment literature for army careers emphasises potential benefits: career interest and challenge, comradeship, the active lifestyle, travel and training opportunities.

"It omits to mention or obscures the radical change from a civilian to a military lifestyle, ethical issues involved in killing, risks to physical and mental health... and the right of conscientious objection."

The report, written by David Gee, says half of young recruits aged between 16 and 22 are leaving the Army, while one in five of all soldiers want to leave at the earliest opportunity.

The Ministry of Defence has described the report as "ill informed and incorrect".

Mr Gee says children and adolescents are the main target groups for recruitment, with methods including visits to schools, literature and local cadet forces.

"As the pool of potential recruits shrinks, outreach to children is expanding, including to those as young as seven.

"Key messages are tailored to children's interests and values: military roles are promoted as glamorous and exciting, warfare is portrayed as game-like and enjoyable and outreach to the young is described as serving their personal growth and education."

According to the report, Informed Choice? Armed Forces and Recruitment Practice in the UK, almost half of all soldiers found Army life to be worse than expected last year, with only 20 per cent thinking it was better.

The report recommends sweeping changes to Armed Forces' recruitment policies, including a new charter setting out the state's responsibilities, a radical review of recruitment literature, phasing out recruitment of minors and new rights for recruits to leave the service.