'Absurd' policy of retiring Defence Forces personnel on age grounds must end — union

At present, the army is short nearly 300 sergeants and a slightly larger number of corporals. The navy has about 100 fewer petty officers than the minimum it requires.

An “absurd” policy to compulsorily discharge more than 600 highly experienced Defence Forces personnel on age grounds needs to be stopped otherwise it has been warned more ships will be tied up, aircraft grounded and fewer soldiers available for overseas peacekeeping missions.

The warning has come from PDForra, which represents more than 6,000 enlisted personnel in the country’s military at a time when the number of people serving in the Defence Forces has dropped to an all-time low of less than 8,000.