Career choices: exploring military migrants’ justifications for their enlistment in the British Armed Forces

Purpose – Using ‘on justification’ theory, this article explores the rationality and justification of the West-African military migrants for joining the British Armed Forces.

Design/methodology/approach – We utilise an interpretive qualitative research methodology in this study. We undertook semi-structured interviews with 42 military migrants who joined the British Armed Forces between 1998 and 2013.
Findings – We identify various factors that influenced the participants’ decision to join the British Armed Forces, such as individual aspirations, the need to find a ‘path’ at a crossroad in life (e.g. a career dilemma or the loss of a parent), economic opportunities, and institutional incentives. Military migrants’ career motivations are shaped by their deep affection for the Crown and their desire to give back to the country with which they share a colonial history.

Practical implications – The UK’s Ministry of Defence, government, and policymakers could gain valuable insights from this study. The findings could significantly shape their recruitment and retention policies, thereby enhancing the attractiveness of the military profession. This could be a crucial step in addressing the recruitment challenges and personnel deficit currently faced by the British Armed Forces.

Originality/value – This study provides a fresh perspective on the dynamics of the military service of foreign-born veterans. The article focuses on underrepresented group (West-African military migrants) to enhance our understanding of their career motivations in the British Armed Forces. We identify and categorise the motivations and justifications for military migrants’ enlistment in the British Armed Forces according to seven justifications, each depicting a career pattern informing the participants’ motivations and justifications for their enlistment.

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