Former British Soldier's Damning Take On Why The Armed Forces Are Being "Hollowed Out"
5 September 2017, 09:50 | Updated: 5 September 2017, 16:59
Luke saw his friends die in Afghanistan, he doesn't think serving in the Army is worth it.
A recent government report has revealed an armed forces recruitment crisis which is particularly affecting the army.
The study was commissioned by Downing Street and conducted by Mark Francois, Conservative MP and former Armed Forces minister.
Mr Francois found that all three branches of the military were "running to a stand still" but that the army was confronted with the biggest problem - only attracting 7,000 recruits last year, compared to the 10,000 it needed to maintain operational capability.
Luke, a former British soldier, told Clive Bull he left the Army because he felt as though he was "fighting someone else's cause."
Calling from Hereford, he said he had served in the British Army for six years: "I had enough, especially after I lost a few friends. It makes you realise that it's not worth it.
"When you go home to funerals and you see your family and friends crying and you think, for what?
"There was no cause for why I joined. I had no job, I had nothing better to do. I was pushed into it by my family.
"I just lost interest. Slowly but surely, I saw that I was fighting for somebody's else's cause. Not my own.
"I don't regret it. It was an experience. I learnt discipline, integrity, loyalty all that, which a lot of my civilians friends didn't have for years and years after me.
"I wanted to be a part of something, I wanted a purpose, I was young, I was seventeen. But as I got into my early twenties I realised I was just doing what I was told.
"I went out to Afghan, none of us really took it seriously. None of us were taking death seriously. It didn't really phase me until I lost a friend. He had his legs blown off by an IED, it changed my view completely. The army wasn't for me.
"The coffins are being brought back, for what?"
Watch the compelling clip above.
