In the U.K., there’s been an annual hiring shortfall of 1,100 troops — equivalent to two infantry battalions — even though the government contracted out recruitment to private firm Capita.

"even though" I love how the unspoken assumption is that privatizing military recruitment would somehow lead to more recruits, just absolute worm-brained neoliberal nonsense

The dipshit Politico author doesn't even realize he stumbled upon the prime reason for the shortfall in that sentence, lmao