Desperate navy chiefs are cutting eight weeks from the commando training schedule in a money-saving move that risks producing 'raw' recruits.
The shortened programme, expected to start in May, will remove adventure training such as rock climbing from the syllabus.
A four-week basic block at the start of the course, intended to weed out weaker candidates, will also be cancelled. And recruits will spend less time on the parade ground learning how to march and more time on “field skills.”
For decades, the Royal Marine's basic training, which recruits must complete to earn a green beret, has lasted 36 weeks – ten weeks longer than the Army's infantry course.
Toppers justified the extensive programme, which costs £120,000 per Marine, on the grounds that they were being taught to a superior level.
But as part of moves by cash-strapped defense officials, the Marines' course is being brought closer to that of the Army.
According to Navy sources, it will save £28,000 per candidate – or £2 million over five years. It is believed the Marines' officer course is also under review.
As part of the Don't Leave Britain Defenseless campaign, the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday previously revealed widespread cuts to the military's budgets since Labor came to power.
Desperate Navy chiefs are cutting eight weeks from the commando training schedule to save money. File image
For decades, the Royal Marine's basic training, which recruits must complete to earn a green beret, has lasted 36 weeks. File image
As part of the moves by cash-strapped defense officials, the Marines' course is being brought closer to that of the Army. File image
This has led to a drastic reduction in the number of target practice exercises, due to the cost of ammunition and supplies donated to Ukraine. Defense officials even considered clawing back a £13 million grant to the Chelsea Pensioners, before the Mail intervened and they scrapped the plan.
A source at the Marines Commando Training Center in Lympstone, Devon, said: 'Many of the instructors here are very concerned. The last thing we want is for relatively raw recruits to pass out and be deployed to the front lines.
'We have been assured that this is a one-year trial period, so if it doesn't work we will go back to 36 weeks.'
Former naval commander Admiral Chris Parry, a veteran of the Falklands War, said last night: 'The excellence of our Royal Marines depends on that level of training.'
A naval officer added: 'This will be a disaster. The course is long because it has to be.'
The MoS has repeatedly called for increasing defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP. But Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to give guarantees on its implementation.
Last night the Royal Navy said no decision had been made on proposals, adding: 'There will be no changes to command standards and the training will always remain among the toughest and most respected in the world.'
