From today's Herald Newspaper article it would appear that SCOTLAND'S most senior soldier drew up the controversial blueprint for dismantling the six existing Scottish infantry regiments while he was supposed to be defending their interests in Whitehall.

Lieutenant-General Sir Alistair Irwin, the army's adjutant-general, wrote the strategy paper advocating the end of single-battalion regiments in May 2003 while his own parent regiment, the Black Watch, was still fighting in Iraq.

At the time he was elected by his peers to be chairman of the Scottish colonels, some serving and former soldiers expressed concern that his job as adjutant-general might clash with his role in fighting the regimental corner in the corridors of power. It now emerges that he wrote a personal "appreciation" for the executive committee of the army board (ECAB) in May, 2003, in which he presented arguments for the ending of the single-battalion regimental system. He also advocated the scrapping of the arms' plot, a system by which units changed role and location every few years, in favour of cross-posting officers and men between different battalions of new, "large" regiments.

While admitting that individual regimental tradition can be "stirring and inspiring", he says that very few units "exist in the form that they existed even a few decades ago" and that names and numbers have come and gone over a proud, 300-year history. "There is no reason why this evolution should not continue, even if change is bound to be painful and controversial", he adds.

There has meanwhile been a hostile response to General Irwin’s open letter to the Red Hackle, the magazine of the Black Watch with a worldwide circulation among current and former members of the regiment. Mapping out the background to the government’s spending review and proposals, the military chief admitted he had been over-optimistic previously and apologised for messages “falsely raising your hopes”.

He said Scotland now faced the “difficult and painful business” of adapting to a new situation. And he dismissed the Save the Regiments campaign out of hand. General Irwin wrote: “While deeply regretting what is happening we should set our minds with determination and resolution to creating something of which we can all be proud in the future. As Colonel of the Regiment and as Colonel Commandant of the Scottish Division I have a duty, if change is inevitable, to make the prospect as attractive as possible for those that are serving and those that are still to join us.” He continued: “I very much fear that we must now begin to come to terms with the fact that in one degree or another the Regiment is facing a key moment in its life. "As Colonel for only a short time and after uttering a number of reassuring messages to various parts of the regimental family I feel too keenly the disappointment you will feel.

Events have conspired against us. "Except in the unlikely event that the decisions are reversed our job is now to see what we can do to forge a future that does not forget the past.” That has been greeted with disbelief in regimental circles. Jim Baird, the vice-chairman of the Perth Black Watch Association, said: “I can’t imagine it’s very nice to be serving your country in Iraq right now, suspecting that your government is only interested in saving money. “Lt General Irwin’s Red Hackle letter has caused real upset because it looks as if he threw in the towel and didn’t have the stomach for the fight. The suspicion is that he had agreed to the changes long before the colonels meet next month to thrash out the way ahead. “The Scottish regiments have to band together and fight as one. Otherwise they will be picked off over the next few years if the politicians are allowed to get away with this. It will be the end of centuries of proud tradition.” Another Black Watch insider lamented: “The colonels meet on September 13 and it looks like a fait accompli. They have rolled over to the government. Consultation is a charade. Lt General Irwin is meant to look after the best interests of The Black Watch and many are branding him a turncoat. That’s the feeling on the ground.”

Colonel Clive Fairweather, a former deputy commander of the SAS and commander of the King's Own Scottish Borderers, added: "We need to retain at least the infantry strength we have at the moment to meet our global commitments. "Cutting manpower on the basis that peace has broken out in Northern Ireland is a dubious argument which might rebound on the government. It also fails to address unforeseen emergencies like Sudan. There is a case for increasing numbers rather than decreasing them." It seems likely that Scotland's infantry will be divided into a three-battalion Highland and a two-battalion Lowland regiments as part of the overall restructuring ordered by General Sir Mike Jackson, the chief of the general staff. One senior Scottish officer said yesterday: "We'll be left with what's becoming known as '"The Jackson Five" north of the border. But the proposals now on the table make no sense demographically and we'll still end up with 500 to 600 fewer men in uniform. "Two of the three Lowland regiments are virtually fully-recruited from the most populous part of the country, while the Highland regiments suffer from a dearth of volunteers in the least populated part." The six Scottish regiments are the Royal Scots, the King's Own Scottish Borderers, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the Black Watch and the Highlanders.
 

General Irwin's office has confirmed that he was adjutant-general at the time his appreciation was written, but failed to respond to questions on the contents of the paper and its implications.