Army recruits yet to complete training could be forced to fight jihadis due to manpower crisis

ARMY recruits are set to be deployed on the front line BEFORE they've finished their training - as dwindling troop numbers plummet to the lowest ever in modern history.

From September, junior soldiers as young as 17 years old could be called out to deal with major terror attacks - despite only having had basic training.

Military experts say it's a stark reminder of the "dire" state the army has been left in after a string of brutal cuts to the budget.

Former Army commander Colonel Richard Kemp, who led British troops in Afghanistan, told the : "This is a sign of the dire state of the British Army following the savage cuts by the Government in recent years.

"In no time I’ve known would soldiers be expected to be operationally effective after Phase One of training but the Army has little or no choice in the current circumstances.

"The Government has left the Army so short of soldiers at a time of such instability around the world."

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Since 2012, the number of troops have been slashed from 100,000 to 82,000, with thousands being offered voluntary redundancy and some being sacked.

Until now only fully trained soldiers have been deployed to war zones.

But the controversial move to send troops out who have only completed Phase One training will add up to 5,000 full-time troops and 1,800 part-time troops to the army.

A spokesman for The Ministry of Defence said: "To meet the increased utility and productivity requirement, the Army has proposed broadening the definition of trained strength to include Regular and Reserve Army Phase One trained personnel.

"This will increase the pool of manpower available for a national emergency.

"Any deployment of Phase One trained personnel would be subject to appropriate supervisory ratios and duty of care regimes."

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