LIEUTENANT Christopher Hill is one of the last of his kind. The 25-year-old chose to join his unit, the fourth battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, because he knew it was earmarked for one of the British Army’s final deployments to Afghanistan. “I wanted to get an operational tour while I can,” he explains, standing by a six-wheeled Mastiff armoured vehicle.

The last British outstation in southern Afghanistan, an observation post called Sterga 2 above the Helmand river, closed in May. Camp Bastion is the only base left. The army will cease combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of 2014—a timetable determined by Barack Obama, but which, as one soldier points out, happily provides a four-month buffer before the 2015 general election. As a 13-year campaign winds down, the army will change dramatically.

Next month Lieutenant-General Sir Nick Carter will take over as chief of the general staff. The army’s new boss is also its architect: asked to find savings of 5.3 billion ($8.9 billion), he devised a plan to cut the number of full-time soldiers from 102,000 to 82,000 by 2018. But some are sceptical. A report by Parliament’s defence committee earlier this year doubted whether the plan will meet Britain’s security needs.

According to a senior British officer in Afghanistan, the army at first wished to restructure the infantry by cutting two Scottish battalions. That suggestion caused a row and is no longer on the table. Instead some battalions will have fewer regular soldiers. During operations numbers will be boosted by paired reservist units providing up to one rifleman in three. Overall, across the army, reservist numbers will increase from 19,000 to 30,000.(Economist)

翻译：

克里斯托弗赫尔中尉是他所属兵种的最后一个人。这个25岁的年轻人选择加入的部队是苏格兰皇家第四部队，因为他了解到这是英国军队最后一次为阿富汗调度的部队之一。他站在六个轮子的装甲车上解释说：“我想在可以的情况下获得一次实战的经历”。

在阿富汗南部的最后一个边哨所于五月份撤销。该哨所叫做斯特格，位于赫尔曼德河之上。堡垒军营是唯一留下的军事基地。这支军队将在2014年末取消在阿富汗的军事行动——该日期是由奥巴马决定的。但是一位士兵也指出，这为2015年的大选提供了四个月的缓冲区。随着13年的军事活动落下帷幕，该部队将迅速转型。

下个月，中将尼克卡特爵士将以总参谋长的身份接管。该部队的新上司也是其缔造者：为了节省53亿英镑，他修订了一个计划，在2018年将全职的士兵从10，200削减到82，000人。但是有人也存在质疑。议会的防卫委员会今年早期的一个报告质疑该计划是否满足英国的国防需要。

阿富汗的一位英国高级官员表明，部队首先希望能够通过削减两个苏格兰军营的人数而达到重建步兵团的目的，这一建议引起了人们的愤怒最终没有付诸实施。相反，某些军营的正规士兵少之又少。在军事行动中，加入预备役部队，士兵数量飙升，其中三个人里面就有一个是步兵。总的来说，全军的预备役军人数将从19,000 上升到 30,000。