Nearly half of UK troops think of quitting

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - Almost half of the members of Britain's armed forces regularly think about quitting, a Ministry of Defence survey showed on Thursday, reflecting the hardship of fighting wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The snapshot of service morale also pinpointed concerns about the quality of equipment, complaints over pay and anxiety about the frequency of tours.

The ministry, revealing details of the survey of 9,000 service personnel, said it had uncovered "areas of concern" but insisted that conditions were being improved.

The survey showed that 47 percent of soldiers and sailors regularly felt like leaving.

Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, himself an ex-officer, told the BBC "I think the tempo of operations has produced such a level of stress on the families that it is no wonder so many are thinking of leaving."

In the survey, 72 percent of Royal Air Force personnel rated morale to be low or very low.

In the Royal Marines, 57 percent felt dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the standard of their equipment.

Last month, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the government would do "everything it could" to help members of the armed forces after army chief Richard Dannatt complained that troops were paid less than traffic wardens.