The Army is a pillar of society with as much right to promote its career prospects in schools as other professions, a senior commander has claimed.

Brigadier David Allfrey, the commander of 51 (Scottish) Brigade, who is also responsible for hitting recruitment targets north of the Border, added that school visits by Forces presentation teams were vital to building more support for the Army amid public disapproval of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His comments will be considered as a rebuke to campaigners who want to ban the army recruitment teams from schools. Teaching unions, charities and politicians are among those who have demanded an end to the visits amid fears that the Army is glamorising warfare and using schools in deprived areas unfairly.

Brigadier Allfrey said that the purpose of the visits was to offer careers information and to educate young people about the defence role of the Army.

“We only go into schools when we are invited, we are not recruiting,” he said. “What we do is explain our place in society, and explain what our vocation has to offer.

“We're an important pillar of society, and we should be able to go into schools in the same way that a lawyer, or a judge, or other professions would. We have a good relationship with the vast majority of schools. Occasionally a school doesn't want us and we go along with that, but we'd like to go into all of them.”

Many teenagers, he added, did not realise that the Army could be a valuable stepping stone to other careers.

“Employers talk about the qualities shown by former young servicemen and servicewomen,” Brigadier Allfrey said. “As well as having a work ethic they also have the ability to focus on problems, and they are terribly good team members. There is a great call for these skills.”

Figures obtained by Christine Grahame, the Nationalist MSP, in May suggested that visits by Army recruitment teams to Scottish schools had increased by 186 per cent since 2006, with some establishments receiving up to ten visits a year. The Army, Navy and RAF make about 1,000 school visits in Britain each year.

Last year the Educational Institute of Scotland, the largest teaching union north of the border, called for a block on army recruitment campaigns in schools and the National Union of Teachers debated an unsuccessful motion at its annual conference in March, which recommended that schools should not be exposed to Ministry of Defence “propaganda” or the recruitment of military personnel.

Ronnie Smith, the union's general-secretary, yesterday rejected the idea that the Army offered only careers advice in schools.

“Figures that show a focus on schools in deprived areas suggests to us something akin to a recruitment campaign as opposed to careers advice,” Mr Smith said. “I don't have a problem with balanced careers advice, but youngsters should not be exposed to hard-sell techniques - by any profession.”

Defence chiefs have repeatedly given warnings that the Army is undermanned. Recruitment has failed to keep pace with the number of experienced personnel who have left because repeated tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll.

As The Times reported last week, almost half of all military personnel are ready to quit because of concerns over equipment, morale and pay. Recruitment to the Royal Regiment of Scotland fell from about 1,100 to just under 750 in 2007-08.

To help to boost the image of the Army, Brigadier Allfrey recently started The Pipers' Trail. The musical event is touring the country to promote the links that the military has with Scotland and to foster a more supportive environment for those considering an army career.

Bolstered by the success of the initiative, which is due to reach Glasgow tomorrow before a grand finale in Edinburgh next weekend, Brigadier Allfrey said that he plans to appeal to young people who are perhaps not currently perceived as suitable Army material, including troubled teenagers and the long-term unemployed.

He said that he hoped to reach out to such groups by engaging with youth leaders and social workers and ensuring that the Army is involved with communities at a local level. One of the ideas he is understood to be considering is offering civilians the opportunity to participate in outdoor pursuits at military facilities.

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