War in Iraq Putting Off Recruits, Says Army

The army is facing a crisis in recruitment triggered in part by its operations in Iraq, senior officers admitted yesterday. Commanders are so concerned that they are launching a campaign today - the first in a decade - to attract young officers.

"We are beginning to see the warning signs," a senior army officer, who asked not to be named, said yesterday. He added that the aim was to avert a crisis. "Once you start tipping off over the cliff it is very difficult to stop," he said.

The shortfall in the total number of soldiers has risen by more than 300% this year to more than 2,000, according to the latest Ministry of Defence figures. Though figures do not yet show a shortage in the number of officers, they reveal that more are leaving the army early.

Army chiefs are concerned at the failure, partly because of Iraq, to get recruits from a variety of backgrounds. They hope that today's £2m campaign will generate up to 40,000 inquiries to fill the 2,000 places available for regular and Territorial Army officers each year.

Brigadier Andrew Jackson, commander of the Army Recruiting Group, told the Guardian: "We cannot pretend Iraq isn't a factor. It is reasonable to assume that the officer community might have thought more deeply about the wider implications of the army's role in Iraq."

The situation is more worrying, he said, given demographic trends over the next decade and increased competition from the private sector. The starting salary for an officer after training is £26,280, the campaign will point out.

However, army chiefs fear that Iraq remains a deterrent to recruits, and that armed forces morale will deteriorate.

Evidence is emerging of growing concern among officers in the army and the RAF over the pressures they are under in Iraq. Last weekend, Captain Ken Masters, a military police officer investigating serious allegations involving British soldiers, was found dead. At the same time, it emerged that Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, a medical officer based at Kinross in Scotland, faced four charges of "disobeying a lawful command" for refusing to serve on operation in Iraq on the grounds that he believed the war was unlawful.

"There are a lot of negative stories around," Brig Jackson said. Iraq was having a "polarising effect" on recruitment: parents and teachers were concerned about sending young men and women to Iraq for fear of their safety, while for those keen to join the army, Iraq was seen as a positive factor.

General Sir Michael Walker, the chief of defence staff, recently conceded that the army's ability to attract recruits was suffering because people saw the armed forces as "guilty by association" with Tony Blair's decision to invade Iraq.