Ex-soldiers offered cash to join TA The Coalition has said it wants the TA to grow to 30,000 members and for all those members to be trained to the standard that would allow them to join regular troops on frontline operations. Reservists will also be required to form complete units, instead of filling gaps in regular units on operations. The TA will be renamed the Army Reserve. The TA currently has around 25,000 official members, but regular commanders say that less than a third have the training and fitness needed for full operations. Some defence chiefs are concerned that the target of 30,000 deployable reservists will not be achieved, leaving the Army unable to function as planned. Mr Hammond will publish a Green Paper setting out proposals to boost the number and quality of those joining the TA and other reserve forces. "The changes I am proposing today amount to a radical shift in the role of Reservists in delivering the nation's security," he will say. A shift which will see Reservists routinely sharing responsibility for activities once the exclusive domain of Regular forces. The decision to target former regulars for recruitment to the reserves could focus attention on the cuts that have seen thousands of serving personnel made redundant. Government sources insisted that the incentive scheme was aimed more widely, and will also target the many members of the Armed Forces who leave voluntarily every year. The MoD estimates that 18,000 personnel leave the Forces every year on a voluntary basis. Planners believe that such veterans are ideal material for the expanded reserve forces. As well as promising to explore "incentives" for veterans to sign up again, the Green Paper will also raise the prospect of new rules that could allow regular personnel to transfer immediately to the reserves on departure. In other proposals expected today employers who recruit and support reservists could be allowed to use a new "kitemark" brand and join a "league of patriotic employers Reservists will get more training, up from 35 days a year to 40. They will also be given clearer guidance on when they will be called up for deployment. The average reservist should expect to serve a six-month tour of duty at least once every five months under the new plans. For too long, the Reserves have been the forgotten part of our Armed Forces. Today marks the beginning of a fresh start," Mr Hammond will say.