Army Training and Recruiting Agency

Background Information

The Agency Headquarters is based at Upavon, close to many of the training units. Recruiting is carried out from 123 sites in towns and cities throughout the country and individual training is conducted at some 40 schools.

With a staff of about 12,000, the Agency is responsible for Ministry of Defence land, buildings and field assets valued at more than one and a quarter billion pounds. The annual budget is between £600-700m from which ATRA is required to enlist about 15,000 recruits and to train a total of about 100,000 officers and soldiers. We conduct almost 1,500 different types of courses, with over 6,000 actual courses run each year. There are an average of 12,000 officers and soldiers under training at any time.

The ATRA is responsible for each stage of an officer cadet or recruit's progress from the recruiting office, through an Army Development and Selection Centre, into recruit training, through specialist courses before they are finally posted to their regiment in the Field Army.
ATRA's operations are divided into four inter-related functions. Recruiting, Recruit training, Specialist training, and Career training.Recruiting, is the attracting, selecting and enlisting officer cadets and recruits by promoting a career in the Army to all sections of the young community, with the intention of reflecting the ethnic diversity of the Nation within the Army.
Recruit Training, is the Initial training of recruits and officer cadets in military skills. Specialist Training, is the Special to Arm training to prepare soldiers for their first appointment.Career Training, is the Continuation training and professional development provided in order to enhance soldier's career progression and to meet the Army's need for specialists.Recruiting Group is responsible for recruiting officers and soldiers for the Army and for marketing for the Territorial Army. In support of this role, from the Headquarters at Upavon, a network of 123 recruitment offices operate throughout the UK. There are also 61 Army Careers Advisers who access schools and universities throughout the country. In liaison with the Army's Director of Corporate Communications Recruiting Group carries out multi-media recruiting campaigns.
Other promotional activities in support of the central marketing strategy and which support the overall recruiting effort, but which fall outside the main recruiting campaign, are also conducted throughout the country.
These include youth activities under the umbrella title 'Pathfinder' which support the National Curriculum in schools and are considered as seed sowing, as well as representation at Careers Fairs and Exhibitions at national and regional levels.

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Initial Training Group are responsible for training officer cadets and recruits. Officer Cadets undertake a one year course which prepares them for their first command appointment. Although most attend a further specialist course before actually commanding their first troop or platoon.

Recruits undergo a 12-week course in basic skills at an Army Training Regiment, which prepares them for specialist training. Young soldiers may be enlisted on a Junior Entry into either the Army Apprentice College where they are prepared for a career in a technical corps, into the Army Foundation College where they are prepared for a career in a combat arm, or on a School Leavers Scheme where they are prepared for service in the infantry.

During basic training all officer cadets and recruits are instilled with the particular ethos of the British soldier. Specialist Training is conducted at 18 different schools with courses lasting from between a month to 18 months depending upon the skills required. The fundamental principle is that any officer or soldier is able to move directly from the course to join their regiment on operations.
An average course last for 3-4 months. All Young Officers are trained on special courses which emphasis the ethos of their particular Arm or Service in preparation for their first command of a troop or platoon. Soldiers may undertake more than one course in preparation for their first appointment, particularly if they have to be trained to drive.

An officer or soldier will spend as much as one third of their career attending training courses. ATRA courses are designed according to the Systems Approach to Training. In a nutshell, this ensures that course content is based on a clearly stated requirement, that it is relevant, that there is a procedure for periodic review and that the required entry standards for students are properly identified. It is a fundamental principle that all those who start a course should have a high chance of finishing it, albeit to a minimum standard in some cases. To that end, the needs of the individual are addressed before beginning the course and extra preparation, coaching or distance learning given to bring all candidates up to a roughly comparable standard.
Those who fall too far below the entry standard for them to be brought up to speed within a sensible length of time are not to start the course and they should be returned to their units.

The next phase of the ATRA's development demands that it is recognised as a world class recruiting and training organisation, that it is established in an optimum number of centres of excellence across the UK, and that we deliver to the Field Army the required number of trained and qualified soldiers, when they are needed, and within the allocated resources.
ATRA is tacking the task in a number of ways. Image is an important part of marketing both to attract recruits but also to involve the nation in what the Army is doing and to attract commercial partners to those areas where the Army has particular expertise.
We are giving television companies unprecedented access to our schools, training units and in the future, operational units.
The country has seen us on operations through television news, now we are showing people what we are like everyday. We are carrying out some interactive and distance learning by the Internet. We are also beginning to actively market those areas of expertise, which we have to offer to commercial organisations in the UK, and to foreign governments.
We are experts in peacekeeping operations, in disaster relief and the delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid. We can train emergency agencies and NGOs, and troops from other nations for UN and NATO operations. We have unparalleled facilities for technical training and where we have irreducible spare capacity we may be able to provide training to civilian organisations.
Finally we are the stewards of some very fine facilities such as historic buildings, houses, roads and so on which are ideal for a range of projects from films to conferences.