Armed forces redundancies: Your reaction

The defence budget would be brought into balance for the first time in a generation, Liam Fox said

Cuts being made to the armed forces will mean Britain's defence capability can grow later in the decade, Defence Secretary Liam Fox has said.

He was speaking on the day 930 RAF and 920 Army personnel are being told they are being made redundant - including 750 compulsory redundancies.

The Army and RAF will eventually cut 7,000 and 5,000 posts respectively.

Here, BBC News website readers who have been affected by this announcement share their views and experiences anonymously.

Took early redundancy as a precaution

When I joined, it was a lifetime career. Last year there were so many rumours. Nobody knew what was going on, no-one could tell us anything. I decided I had to go.

I got plenty of advice from my chain of command who basically told me there was no future.

I am disappointed. I joined the RAF so that I could learn new skills, travel to new places and see the world. A lot has changed. The media keeps saying that "morale is low" - this is an understatement.

There seems to be a problem for those who are faced with redundancy at the moment.

They may have to go in 18 months but they're not free yet to apply for jobs. It's going to be hard getting employment.

Wife of RAF employee made redundant

My husband has served in the RAF for just shy of 25 years. He has been deployed to several war zones over the years.

He received his redundancy notice this morning, the letter advised him to contact his desk officer (the person that manages your career in the RAF) to discuss it. On telephoning the desk officer he was told he was away on leave.

Surely if your redundancy notice tells you to call him, why on earth is he not there? It's not as if they didn't know the redundancies were being announced today. He was then told to call back next week.

I find this outrageous and would like answers as to why this point of contact was allowed to go on holiday. The irony is that the desk officer will no doubt be promoted from his current job as all desk officers seem to get promotions.

Partner has been made redundant

My partner is in the RAF and out of the seven colleagues in his section who were candidates for redundancy, six have been made redundant - all forcibly.

The BBC's correspondent says the effect on morale will be hard to gauge, but my partner has already had to drag a colleague out of his room because they were afraid of what he would do if left on his own.

These are guys who have given 10 to 20 years' service to their country and this is how we repay them. They are devastated.

Only three years left to serve

I've only got three years left to serve of a 30 year contract. I'd like to remain anonymous. I'm not afraid of losing my job. I don't want to lose my pension though.

I work in an office that seems to be a dumping ground for JNCOs and SNCOs [junior and senior non-comissioned officers] that are either sick, permanently downgraded or just cannot pass the (laughably easy) RAF fitness test.

I would feel quite hard done by if none of these individuals got made redundant only to hear that a fit, able and willing individual like myself had.

Limited options

A huge split has occurred in the RAF, those who wish to leave and those who are being forced out.

Redundancies aren't the only way the MOD are forcing people out.

Refusing to sign people on who are past their original nine-year contract forces somebody out of their job without the option of redundancy - and it is going unnoticed by the press and public.

A lot of people are being forced out who want to stay.

Not signing people on who want to stay is more disgusting than voluntary redundancies and somebody should look into this and bring it to the public's attention.

Husband served 21 years

My husband will find out today if he's being made redundant. After 21 years serving his country, which included active service in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, someone in Whitehall can dismiss his contribution to Queen and country with the stroke of a pen.

Our men risk their lives when serving the government and this country, but where will the government and country be when those men and their families are faced with the prospect of losing their livelihood and their homes? What happened to supporting our troops?

On the final day of service all those made redundant will not only be unemployed, many with no transferrable skills - but they also then have only three months in their home before facing eviction.

I don't believe Mr Cameron and those involved in making the decision to cut the armed forces are fully aware of the true cost and impact that the stroke of their pens will have on those who have served them so proudly.

Approaching retirement

As I approach natural retirement from the RAF, I am encouraged by the brave political words about how much our armed forces are valued.

I just have trouble reconciling this with redundancy which, much more clearly, tells them that they are not even worth their salary

Falkland Islands redundancies

I'm not under threat myself, but people seem to have forgotten all those on a four to 18 month detachment in the Falklands Islands are all in the frame for redundancy, and will be finding out at the same time as everyone else.