经济学人194:英国军队 变化的力量

 　　The British Army

　　英国军队

　　A changing force

　　变化的力量

　　The British Army is taking on a radical¹ new shape

　　英国军队正在发生彻底的改头换面

　　LIEUTENANT² Christopher Hill is one of the last of his kind. The 25-year-old chose to join his unit, the fourth battalion³ of the Royal Regiment⁴ of Scotland, because he knew it was earmarked for one of the British Army's final deployments to Afghanistan. “I wanted to get an operational tour while I can,” he explains, standing⁶ by a six-wheeled Mastiff armoured vehicle.

　　克里斯托弗赫尔中尉是他所属兵种的最后一个人。这个25岁的年轻人选择加入的部队是苏格兰皇家第四部队，因为他了解到这是英国军队最后一次为阿富汗调度的部队之一。他站在六个轮子的装甲车上解释说：“我想在可以的情况下获得一次实战的经历”。

　　英国军队.jpg

　　The last British outstation in southern Afghanistan, an observation post called Sterga 2 above the Helmand river, closed in May. Camp Bastion is the only base left. The army will cease combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014—a timetable determined⁷ by Barack Obama, but which, as one soldier points out, happily provides a four-month buffer⁸ before the 2015 general election. As a 13-year campaign winds down, the army will change dramatically.

　　在阿富汗南部的最后一个边哨所于五月份撤销。该哨所叫做斯特格，位于赫尔曼德河之上。堡垒军营是唯一留下的军事基地。这支军队将在2014年末取消在阿富汗的军事行动——该日期是由奥巴马决定的。但是一位士兵也指出，这为2015年的大选提供了四个月的缓冲区。随着13年的军事活动落下帷幕，该部队将迅速转型。

　　Next month Lieutenant-General Sir Nick Carter will take over as chief of the general staff. The army's new boss is also its architect: asked to find savings⁹ of 5.3 billion ($8.9 billion), he devised a plan to cut the number of full-time¹⁰ soldiers from 102,000 to 82,000 by 2018. But some are sceptical. A report by Parliament's defence committee earlier this year doubted whether the plan will meet Britain's security needs.

　　下个月，中将尼克卡特爵士将以总参谋长的身份接管。该部队的新上司也是其缔造者：为了节省53亿英镑，他修订了一个计划，在2018年将全职的士兵从10，200削减到82，000人。但是有人也存在质疑。议会的防卫委员会今年早期的一个报告质疑该计划是否满足英国的国防需要。

　　According to a senior British officer in Afghanistan, the army at first wished to restructure the infantry¹¹ by cutting two Scottish battalions¹². That suggestion caused a row and is no longer on the table. Instead some battalions will have fewer regular soldiers. During operations numbers will be boosted by paired reservist units providing up to one rifleman in three. Overall, across the army, reservist numbers will increase from 19,000 to 30,000.

　　阿富汗的一位英国高级官员表明，部队首先希望能够通过削减两个苏格兰军营的人数而达到重建步兵团的目的，这一建议引起了人们的愤怒最终没有付诸实施。相反，某些军营的正规士兵少之又少。在军事行动中，加入预备役部队，士兵数量飙升，其中三个人里面就有一个是步兵。总的来说，全军的预备役军人数将从19,000 上升到 30,000。

　　Reservists can work well. Lieutenant Colonel Graham Johnson, commanding officer of a medical regiment in Afghanistan, said part-timers make up 10% of his unit. “The military offer a lot of leadership skills and development at the lower level,” he explains. “And we benefit from their clinical competence¹³.” But with infantry the situation is trickier¹⁴. There are too few reservists, and many are unable to drop their civilian¹⁵ jobs at short notice. Regular commanders calling on their reservists could receive fewer than they need.

　　预备役军人也能做得很好。阿富汗医疗团的指挥官格雷姆·约翰中尉称，他的单位兼职人员占了10%。他解释道“军队提供了大量的领导技能和低水平的发展，我们从他们完善的医疗能力中获益匪浅。”但是在预备役中，这种情况更为棘手。几乎没有预备军人，许多都无法一得到通知就停止原有的普通工作。正规军的司令认为预备军人拿到的工资可能比所需的更少。

　　The army has advertised heavily for reservists, and increased the bounties¹⁶ paid to regular soldiers leaving the army who join the part-timers. But Britain lacks the legal and cultural apparatus¹⁷ to sustain a large reserve. In America part-time soldiers who fail to show up face serious sanctions; employers keep reservists' jobs open. By contrast the British Territorial¹⁸ Army, recently renamed the “Army Reserve”, has been a more amateur affair, regarded by some as a drinking club. One London-based reservist, who has completed an Afghanistan tour, wryly¹⁹ said his bosses regard him as comparable to a maternity²⁰ risk.

　　军队强烈宣传预备役招兵，并提高了正规军退役成为兼职军人的奖金金额。但是英国缺乏法律和文化制约来维持大量的预备役。在美国，兼职军人没有按时报到会受到严厉的制裁；雇主也为现役军人大开大门。相比而言，最近被更名为“陆军预备役”的英国的地方自卫队更多的是一种业余的工作，被有些人与酒吧一类的场所相提并论。一位伦敦的预备役军人，刚刚结束了阿富汗之旅，讽刺地说他的老板们对他的重视程度不亚于孕妇。

　　A recent survey showed that only 42% of regular soldiers who had worked with reservists saw them as professional. Even fewer thought they were well integrated. “The army know they have to be seen to make the arrangement with the reserves work, although privately²¹ they doubt that it will”, says Professor Michael Clarke, director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, a defence think-tank.

　　最近一项研究表明，与预备役军人工作过的正规军，只有42%认为他们是职业军人。几乎没有人认为自己能够融入这个团体。皇家国防联合服务研究所的专家迈克尔·克拉克表示，“军队知道自己必须要做得看起来为预备役做得安排有成效，尽管私底下他们也对此很怀疑” 。

　　The reforms could also create fissures²² among full-time soldiers. Under the plans, the army will be split into “reactive” and “adaptive” forces. The reactive side's job is conventional fighting, though it will have fewer tanks than formerly²³. The adaptive force will sit at lower readiness. It will train foreign troops, something “the British military has done ever since the early days of empire”, says General Sir Peter Wall, the current chief of the general staff.

　　该改革也可能在全职军人中引起纷争。军队按计划将被分为“作战型”和“防御型”两种。反抗性部队的工作是传统的打仗，，尽管其所拥有的坦克与之前比起来没有差别。而适应性部队的准备机能较低。它将训练外国部队，当前的总参谋长皮特·瓦尔称其有点像“英国军队自帝国早期就开始做的那样”。

　　Because the reactive force will be first to deploy⁵ to a major crisis, the new system risks creating a two-tier army. The problem is potentially acute in the Royal Armoured Corps²⁴, operators of Britain's tanks. Regiments²⁵ there will be permanently²⁶ streamed to the reactive or adaptive forces, with fewer opportunities to cross-post soldiers than in larger infantry outfits²⁷ with feet in both camps. Adding this fuel to the existing rivalries²⁸ between regiments is a risk.

　　因为反抗性军队将会率先部署解决一个主要的危机，新体制创造一个两层的军队结构。潜伏在皇家坦克部队，即英国坦克部队的问题非常尖锐。部队自此将分为作战型部队和防御型部队，而那些夹在中间的士兵的机会就比擅长两种作战方式的少了许多。将这一计划用在军队上无疑会加剧危险。

　　But the most obvious change to the armed forces is a straightforward²⁹ one: Britain will probably not be engaged in a major foreign war in the near future. That may hamper³⁰ recruiting. It will also divide those entitled to wear operational-services medals and those who are not. This is why officers are keen to get whatever residual³¹ action they can. “There were very competent guys who I went through training with who were just unfortunate, they didn't go to the right place at the right time and they didn't get an operational tour,” says Lieutenant Hill. Still, he knows his billet is more comfortable than his predecessors³² endured. He regrets the fact that, since he is based in Camp Bastion rather than an austere³³ forward base, he can go to a shop and eat an ice cream.

　　但是军队最明显的改变是非常直截了当的:英国可能在近期不会再加入大型的境外战争。这可能会影响新兵征募。这也会将那些参加过实战的军人和未参加过的分开来。这就是为什么军官非常热衷于参加剩下的战斗的原因。赫尔中尉说，“和我一起训练过的战友都是很有能力的，但是不幸的是，他们不能在合适的时间去到合适的地方，因而无法参加实战”。而且，他认为自己目前的宿舍比之前的人更为舒适。他感到遗憾的是，自从他从严峻的前线基地回到堡垒军营以后，他竟然可以去商店买冰淇淋吃了。

1 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

2 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

3 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

4 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

5 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

9 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

10 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

11 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

12 battalions   

n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍

参考例句：

• God is always on the side of the strongest battalions. 上帝总是帮助强者。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Two battalions were disposed for an attack on the air base. 配置两个营的兵力进攻空军基地。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

14 trickier   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的比较级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• This is the general rule, but some cases are trickier than others. 以上是一般规则，但某些案例会比别的案例更为棘手。 来自互联网
• The lower the numbers go, the trickier the problems get. 武器的数量越低，问题就越复杂。 来自互联网

15 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

16 bounties   

（由政府提供的）奖金( bounty的名词复数 )； 赏金； 慷慨； 大方

参考例句：

• They paid bounties for people to give up their weapons. 他们向放下武器的人发放赏金。
• This foundation provided bounties of more than 5 million last year. 去年该基金会赠款达五百万元以上。

17 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

18 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

19 wryly   

adv. 挖苦地，嘲弄地

参考例句：

• Molly smiled rather wryly and said nothing. 莫莉苦笑着，一句话也没说。
• He smiled wryly, then closed his eyes and gnawed his lips. 他狞笑一声，就闭了眼睛，咬着嘴唇。 来自子夜部分

20 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

21 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

22 fissures   

n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Rising molten rock flows out on the ocean floor and caps the fissures, trapping the water. 上升熔岩流到海底并堵住了裂隙，结果把海水封在里面。 来自辞典例句
• The French have held two colloquia and an international symposium on rock fissures. 法国已经开了两次岩石裂缝方面的报告会和一个国际会议。 来自辞典例句

23 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

24 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

25 regiments   

（军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物

参考例句：

• The three regiments are all under the command of you. 这三个团全归你节制。
• The town was garrisoned with two regiments. 该镇有两团士兵驻守。

26 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

27 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

28 rivalries   

n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new government was torn by rivalries. 新政府由于各派对立而四分五裂。 来自辞典例句
• Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred or give rise to fighting. 竞争会带来痛苦、仇恨，或者引起争斗。 来自互联网

29 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

30 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

31 residual   

adj.复播复映追加时间；存留下来的，剩余的

参考例句：

• There are still a few residual problems with the computer program.电脑程序还有一些残留问题。
• The resulting residual chromatism is known as secondary spectrum.所得到的剩余色差叫做二次光谱。

32 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

33 austere   

adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的

参考例句：

• His way of life is rather austere.他的生活方式相当简朴。
• The room was furnished in austere style.这间屋子的陈设都很简单朴素。