DEFENCE reviews are tricky at the best of times but the one we are now involved in is likely to be markedly more problematic than those in the past.

For the RAF it is relatively straightforward, which is why the announcement about RAF Leeming's future role has been made so abruptly. The threat from the east is no more, the air defence strategy the base has been a key part of has changed. Therefore the need to have Tornadoes patrolling the North Sea to combat incursions by Soviet MIGs is history. A question mark remains over what happens when the last Tornado squadron moves in 2008, but it seems unlikely the Ministry of Defence will want to completely abandon a base it has spent so much money on over the last 20 years.

The Army cuts are a headache. If the local community has had mixed feelings about the impact of noisy Tornado jets, the relationship with the Green Howards is rather different. The regiment is closely tied to North Yorkshire and Teesside through hundreds of years of history. Past heroics and VC totals aside, it proudly boasts of its recent record of being the best recruited (i.e. up to strength) county regiment and any plan to merge or disband it altogether will be fought by a vociferous local campaign.

There is also the matter of absolute numbers. The Government sees a hi-tech future for our forces but events of the last 18 months have only reinforced the point about there being no substitute for real soldiers. The Green Howards is arguably one of the most effective units this country has in finding and developing them.