How is Army aiming to win support?

By Alexis Akwagyiram
BBC News

The Army has launched a publicity campaign costing an estimated £2m to encourage public support for UK soldiers.

Why did the Army think this was necessary and what will it entail?

Some 175 UK troops have been killed in operations in Iraq

A Ghanaian woman talking about her two-mile walk for clean water and a man in Sierra Leone who narrowly escaped having a hand hacked off.

What do they have in common?

The Army hopes the testimonies of these two civilians, and others in Bosnia and Afghanistan, in television adverts will show the wider impact of work carried out by the UK's soldiers.

Viewers of the subtitled adverts learn that troops drilled boreholes for the woman's community to access water closer to home.

And the man was saved from a gang when soldiers scared them away.

The campaign, which is being launched just days before the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion and is entitled "To the Best", aims to share stories of the work troops do.

The Army makes a real and broad contribution to society, one that is not always known about or understood by the public Brig Andrew Jackson

It includes a website where messages of support can be left.

Brigadier Andrew Jackson, commander Army recruiting group, explained the thinking behind the campaign.

"The Army makes a real and broad contribution to society, one that is not always known about or understood by the public," he said, explaining that the aim is to "share the excellent work of soldiers in their many different roles as well as communicating the stories of the people whose lives they have changed".

"At a time when the public has limited contact with soldiers and when awareness of what the Army does rarely extends beyond the news reports they see of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is very important to promote understanding and engagement with the Army," he said.

Similarly, Lt Col Paul Meldon, commander of regional recruitment in London, said: "At the moment, the public only see us in a red tunic outside Buckingham Palace or getting shot at.

"The general public needs to see us going about our daily business."

'Growing gulf'

It is not the first time that the public's perception of the UK's Army has come under scrutiny.

Last year, Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army, expressed concerns about "the growing gulf between the Army and the nation".

He suggested the work carried out by troops - and the sacrifices that form an integral part of their job - were not being acknowledged.

To date, 175 UK troops have been killed in operations in Iraq, and a further 89 have lost their lives in operations in Afghanistan since 2001.

And the idea of an Armed Forces Day has been raised recently.

Such events already exist in a number of countries such as the US, Russia and Italy.

Better equipment

However, the initiative has attracted criticism from families who have lost relatives in Iraq and Afghanistan, who said funds would be better spent on equipment.

Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed in a bomb attack in Iraq in June 2004, said the money should have been spent on providing equipment to help protect soldiers.

Mrs Gentle, who co-chairs Military Families Against the War, said: "They should be spending the money on getting the right equipment.

"They're trying to recruit, but it won't work. You're not going to join the Army if you don't get the protection you need.

"It's coming up to five years so it's a bit sad doing it now."

And last year an extra £80m was pledged by Defence Secretary Des Browne to improve Army housing conditions following complaints about the sometimes poor standard of accommodation offered to troops.

Rose Gentle said the campaign money used for equipment

The move came after a National Audit Office study suggested that a significant number of UK service personnel could be living in poor quality accommodation for the next 20 years and more than 40% of military homes were sub-standard with no final date for an upgrade.

Brig Jackson responded to suggestions that the estimated £2m spent on the campaign could be better used elsewhere by saying: "Of course there's a balance to be struck here.

"But if we want to have soldiers to pay and equip then we've got to put efforts and resources into the recruiting task, particularly when we face a lot of competition from other employers."

He also pointed out that the cost of the initiative had come out of the Army's recruitment budget.

Lindsey German, a spokeswoman for the Stop the War Coalition, said the drive was necessary "because the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are so unpopular".

She said: "The only way to recoup this is to support the soldiers. Most people don't have a quarrel with individual soldiers, they have a quarrel with the government.

"If the government was honest about the impact of their role, they would also refer to the one million Iraqi dead and the four million Iraqi refugees at present."

Lack of understanding

To coincide with the launch, the Army commissioned an online survey of 1,000 people in January to discover more about attitudes to the military.

The poll found that 87% of those questioned supported British soldiers.

Brig Jackson said this figure showed the public's ability to "divorce" their political views from support for troops as the poll suggested only 41% supported the UK's operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The findings also suggested that nine out of 10 people believed the Army had an important role to play in society.

A similar number said soldiers were the epitome of heroism and nearly half wanted to see more soldiers on the streets in uniform.

The poll results also appeared to back the view that there was a lack of understanding about the UK's troops as only 23% of respondents said they believed they were well informed about the Army.