NATIONAL service ended before I became eligible and it is probably just as well — I would have been a reluctant and somewhat useless soldier.

Time has moved on since then and thousands of youngsters have signed up, willingly, for the UK’s armed forces.

Some have been killed, maimed or left with severe psychological problems.

But many others have enjoyed doing their patriotic duty through genuine enthusiasm for the calling — or a lack of other opportunities in the jobs market.

I have watched young men and women march with pride and a sense of purpose that might not have been available to them on civvy street.

While I reflect in this way, I note that the defence secretary Liam Fox has announced cuts in personnel that will shrink the Army from its present size of about 101,000 to 82,000 by 2020.

There will be uncertainty for existing soldiers as the deadline approaches and worry about the future.

They will presumably compete for jobs with all the other victims of cutback Britain including local Government workers, civil servants, those culled by multinational organisations and folk bounced off benefits.

Life will not be easy.

Part of the drive towards a cheaper defence capability includes an increase in the number of fully trained reservists in the navy, army and air force from around 20,000 to 35,000 by 2015.

I cannot believe it will be possible to achieve that target at a time when many organisations — private and public — have reduced their staff numbers and prefer remaining individuals to be working rather than taking part in military exercises elsewhere.

Some firms are happy to bask in the reflected glory if somebody on the payroll is helping the country in this way.

Others do their best to discourage such action.

Bolton, of course, has a fine Territorial Army tradition that has not been helped by funding cuts over the past two years.

But now the game has changed and the local TA, which recently held an open day, wants to hear from potential soldiers able to commit themselves to 27 days a year or more.

Anybody interested is asked to ring 01204 362111 and no doubt some people will be interested.

Even so, looking at it from the point of view of the professional servicemen and women, there seems to be something fundamentally wrong with UK employment generally.

A system that encourages young people to be the best they can be co-exists with a management culture in which those holding the purse strings prefer to offer positions to others who are cheap or free.

The army can now be added to this list and that has to be a shame.