A former Black Watch officer has warned that any plan to scrap the battalion and shut down Fort George would seriously dent Army morale and recruitment.
Major Ronnie Proctor, secretary of The Black Watch Association, served for 40 years in the regiment and has been left alarmed by plans to axe the famous name.
He claimed the move would be “short sighted” and lead to the Royal Regiment of Scotland being viewed as a product of the central belt.
Maj Proctor, who is a Conservative councillor in the Angus region, said: “With lots of these things you don’t know what is speculation and what is not, but I’m of the belief that there’s no smoke without fire.
“The Black Watch, when this all first kicked off in terms of the Labour government, fought tooth and nail, probably harder than any other regiment, to retain their own identity.
“I really do think that getting rid of the Black Watch battalion, for whatever reason, would not be good for morale and certainly would not be good for recruiting, because the Black Watch is probably the most iconic battalion in Scotland.”
The Black Watch, which is comprised of more than 500 personnel, is distinct for the red hackle on its Tam o’Shanter.
Its traditional recruiting areas were in Fife, Dundee, Angus and Perth, with the battalion headquarters and regimental museum located at Balhousie Castle, Perth.
The unit moved from Palace Barracks in Belfast to Fort George in July 2007.
Maj Proctor said he had trained at the Ardersier base while he was a cadet.
“When Fort George was built it was the most state-of-the-art defence system in Britain and probably in Europe. Thank goodness there was never a shot fired in anger,” he said.
“A lot of the lads have already made roots there in Inverness. I think it would be short-sighted if closure was the decision.
“What we’ll end up having is that the Royal Regiment of Scotland will become the M8 corridor regiment. There will be no identification with local counties.
“It’s ill-thought-out by people who obviously know nothing about these things.”
