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Summary British MoD has announced that a further 4,200 jobs would be axed from the armed forces.
Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement that 2,900 members of the Army, 1,000 members of the Royal Air Force and 300 members of the Royal Navy would be made redundant.The announced redundancies was set out in the governments Strategic Defence and Security Review, proposed in 2010 to deal with the £38 billion “black hole” in the defence budget. In the SDSR, MoD affirmed that by 2015 it would reduce the size of the Army by 7,000 personnel and the Navy and RAF by 5,000 personnel each.Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said that the coalition government had no other “choice” but to cut the jobs, claiming that the armed forces would “remain agile.”Difficult decisions had to be taken in the SDSR to deal with the vast black hole in the MoD budget. As we continue with the redundancy process, we will ensure we retain the capabilities that our armed forces will require to meet the challenges of the future,” Hammond said.Meanwhile, he stressed that the cuts would not affect the British troops fighting in Afghanistan. The redundancy programme will not impact adversely on the current operations in Afghanistan, where our armed forces continue to fight so bravely on this countrys behalf,” he added.The Gurkhas, Nepalese soldiers who have been part of the British Army for about 200 years, will face 400 job cuts, along with 500 infantry privates. The Army will lose eight Brigadiers and 60 Lieutenant Colonels.Five Commodores and 17 Captains, nineteen Royal Marine officers will lose jobs in the Royal Navy. And the RAF will lose 15 air commodores and 30 group captains.
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