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The SAS could be undermanned because of a massive exodus of soldiers quitting the crack Parachute Regiment, new figures reveal.

Troops are quitting the Paras to double their pay in the booming private sector as security consultants now that the Afghan war is drawing to an end.

Since the sandy beret elite squad draws 80% of its crack recruits from Britain’s legendary Para battalions it has a smaller pool of talent to select troops from.

Official figures show that the red berets, currently tasked to be on permanent call as the UK’s high readiness reaction forces, are now short of men.

From the Gulf and across Africa war veterans who have seen action in Helmand Province can double their wages protecting aid agencies, training foreign forces and guarding commercial shipping against piracy.

Senior Para officers are even concerned that the controversial new ‘privatised’ recruiting system introduced last year is delaying potential recruits into the military.

The Daily Mirror recently revealed how dozens of potential recruits were turned away from day one of training, never to return, because their medical records had been delayed.

(Image: PA)

The loss of soldiers has been confirmed in official figures issued by the MoD revealing both Para battalions are short of soldiers – despite their huge importance to keeping Britain secure.

The figures released in a written answer by Anna Soubry, the defence minister for personnel and welfare, show that the Paras 2nd Battalion is under manned by 73 men and the 3rd Battalion is short of 63 troops.

A number of infantry units are short of manpower, but manning in the Paras is critical as they are on constant readiness.

The Parachute Regiment has been ordered to mount an urgent recruiting campaign, with the approval of the Director of Infantry, within the Army aimed at persuading serving soldiers to transfer to the Paras.

In December a Paras ‘roadshow’ at Catterick attracted interest from 70 serving soldiers, but only six followed up the opportunity with just two opting to go on the paras gruelling P Company course.

In Colchester serving Paras say that men are leaving because Afghanistan is drawing to an end, defence cuts have smashed morale and many are quitting for the private sector.

One soldier said: “We are constantly running around Salisbury Plain or somewhere else but for what?

“Afghan is over.

“All of the aircraft are in Afghan so parachuting is limited and in general most blokes are getting out. The good days are over”.

The annual report for 2013 revealed manning shortages across the British Army from aircrew jobs, to specialist engineers and artillery system operators.

Among the shortages there is an acute shortfall of bomb disposal officers for operational deployments with the biggest shortage being among the intelligence corps which needs interrogators and electronic warfare teams.

The MoD said: “The Armed Forces are going through significant restructuring resulting in a small number of temporary shortages in some roles.

“However, there are safeguards in place to ensure frontline operational capability is not affected.

All three Services continue to recruit and the Army recently launched a major recruiting drive for both Regulars and Reservists.

“We are confident that we have, and will continue to have, the right personnel with the right skill sets to satisfy all strategic Defence priorities.”