OUGD603 EXTENDED PRACTICE - ARMED FORCES PUBLICATION - FACTS AND FIGURES FOR INFOGRAPHICS RESEARCH

As a result of the changes to Army Trained Strength and their impact on the Army Reserve, the MOD released a Written Ministerial Statement containing revised Future Reserves 2020 strength growth profiles on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves will be based on strength profiles only.
This statement outlined trained strength targets for FY18/19 as follows:
Maritime Reserve 3,100,
Army Reserve 30,100 and
RAF Reserves 1,860.

UK Service Personnel comprise the total strength of the military personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence.
The current strength of the UK Service Personnel is 196,570, which includes:
All UK Regular personnel and all Gurkha personnel (which at 1 March 2017 comprised 77.3 per cent of UK Service Personnel);
Volunteer Reserve personnel (which at 1 March 2017 comprised 18.5 per cent of UK Service Personnel);
Other Personnel including the Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel and elements of the Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) (which at 1 March 2017 comprised 4.2 per cent of UK Service Personnel).

Strength is the number of personnel.
Volunteer Reserves voluntarily accept an annual training commitment and are liable to be mobilised to deploy on operations. They can be utilised on a part-time or full-time basis to provide support to the Regular Forces at home and overseas.

The strength of the UK Forces has decreased between 1 March 2016 and 1 March 2017, by 0.2 per cent (340 personnel). Over the same period, there has been a decrease in the strength of UK Regular Forces and there have been increases in the Reserves populations.
The total strength of the UK Regular Forces has decreased by 2,000 (1.3 per cent) between 1 March 2016 and 1 March 2017.
The total strength of the Volunteer Reserve has increased by 1,440 (4.1 per cent), the Gurkhas increased by 140 (4.8 per cent) and Other Personnel increased by 90 (1.1 per cent) between 1 March 2016 and 1 March 2017.

As a result of this change, the Full-time Trained Strength (FTTS) includes:
UK Regular Forces who have passed Phase 1 and Phase 2 training, in the RN/RM & RAF, and UK Regular Forces and Gurkha personnel who have passed Phase 1 training in the Army;
Those elements of the Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) who are counted against the liability, for all three Services. This change was implemented in the 1 October 2016 edition of this publication.
As at 1 March 2017, the Tri-Service Full-time Trained Strength was 142,720.
Comparisons prior to October 2016 are not available for the Army because it is not possible to identify a split between Phase 1 and Phase 2 training prior to that.

As at 1 March 2017, the FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) is 138,760, a decrease of 1.3 per cent (1,800 personnel) since 1 March 2016.
Of this, the FTTS for the RN/RM is 29,480 , 30,850 for the RAF and the FTTTS is 78,430 for the Army.
The FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) comprises:
135,640 Regular personnel (97.7 per cent);
2,570 Gurkhas (1.8 per cent);
and 560 Full Time Reserve Service personnel (0.4 per cent) who are filling Regular posts and count against the liability.

Full-time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (Army) includes all UK Regular personnel, Gurkhas and those elements of the Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) who are counted against the liability.

Liability is the number of Service personnel needed, based on the Defence Planning Round, set for each of the three Services.

The current deficit against the Liability is 4.5 per cent for the UK Armed Forces.
There is a deficit of 2.4 per cent in the Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM),
5.1 per cent in the Army and
4.8 per cent in the Royal Air Force (RAF).
The SDSR 2015 envisaged that by 2020 the UK Armed Forces would have 144,200 personnel, comprising 30,450 for the RN/RM, 82,000 for the Army and 31,750 for the RAF.

As at 1 March 2017, the trained and untrained strength of the UK Regular Forces (which excludes Gurkhas) was 148,960.
There are 9,800 untrained personnel in the UK Regular Forces, of which 3,870 are in the Army.
The untrained strength reflects the number of personnel who can potentially join the trained strength.

UK Regulars are full time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guarding Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), and Non Regular Permanent Service (NRPS).
Intake is defined as the number joining the Strength, whereas Outflow is the number leaving.

Since 2011 outflow has exceeded intake for each 12 month period.
Excluding personnel who left on redundancy, in the 12 months to 28 February 2017, there was a net outflow of 2,020 personnel from the UK Regular Forces.
This difference has reduced compared with the 12 months to 29 February 2016, when 2,600 more personnel left the UK Regular Forces than joined.

Intake into the trained and untrained UK Regular Forces was 12,920 in the 12 months to 28 February 2017. This has decreased from 14,240 in the 12 months to 29 February 2016.

Of the current intake, 10.5 per cent was into Officers and 89.5 per cent was into Other Ranks.

Compared to the 12 months to 29 February 2016, intake to the RN/RM has decreased by 7.2 per cent, intake to the Army has decreased by 9.5 per cent and the RAF has decreased by 11.0 per cent.

Voluntary Outflow encompasses all trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade Trained (Army) personnel who voluntarily exit before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period.
Time Expiry is a term used to describe those in the Armed Services who reach the end of their engagement or commission and then leave.
Other includes outflow from the trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) strength due to, amongst others, medical reasons, misconduct, compassionate, dismissals and death.

Outflow from the trained and untrained UK Regular Forces was 14,950 in the 12 months to 28 February 2017; down from 16,950 in the 12 months to 29 February 2016.

In the 12 months to 28 February 2017, less than 5 trained and untrained personnel left the UK Regular Forces as part of the UK Armed Forces Redundancy Programme. This compares to 120 in the 12 months to 29 February 2016.

At a Tri-Service level, in the 12 months to 28 February 2017, more personnel left the trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) UK Regular Forces by Voluntary Outflow (VO) than for any other reason.
In the 12 months to 28 February 2017, 7,370 trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) personnel left through VO; the VO rate was 5.4 per cent. This is a decrease from 7,940 in the 12 months to 29 February 2016 and a VO rate of 5.7 per cent.
In the 12 months to 28 February 2017, the VO rate is higher amongst Other Ranks (5.6 per cent), compared to Officers (4.3 per cent).
There is no single reason why personnel leave on Voluntary Outflow, but the personnel who completed the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey indicated reasons for leaving the Armed Forces included the impact of Service life on family and personal life and opportunities outside the Armed Forces.

Future Reserves 2020 includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and those volunteer reserves serving on Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) and Additional Duties Commitment (ADC). Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost effective solution than volunteer reserve are also included in the Army Reserve FR20.

The total trained and untrained strength of the Tri-Service Future Reserves 2020 was 36,110; an increase of 1,520 personnel or 4.4 per cent since 1 March 2016.

The Maritime Reserve total strength as at 1 March 2017 was 3,510. This has remained stable since 1 March 2016. The Maritime Reserve trained strength was 2,510 as at 1 March 2017. This is an increase of 190 personnel (8.0 per cent) since 1 March 2016.

The Army Reserve total strength as at 1 March 2017 was 29,870. This is an increase of 1,300 personnel (4.6 per cent) since 1 March 2016.
The Army changed its definition of trained strength to include phase 1 trained personnel from 1 October 2016.
The Army Reserve trained strength was 26,580 as at 1 March 2017.

The RAF Reserves total strength as at 1 March 2017 was 2,720. This is an increase of 210 personnel (8.4 per cent) since 1 March 2016. At 1 March 2017 the RAF Reserves trained strength was 2,140. This is an increase of 290 personnel (16.0 per cent) since 1 March 2016.

In the 12 months between 1 March 2016 and 28 February 2017, intake to the Tri-Service Future Reserves 2020 population was 6,580 people; a 21.3 per cent decrease on the same 12 month period in the previous year.

In the 12 months between 1 March 2016 and 28 February 2017 outflow from the Tri-Service Future Reserves 2020 population was 5,070 people; a 21.0 per cent increase compared with the same 12 month period in the previous year.

Total outflow rate 12 months total outflow divided by the mean average strength. Outflow includes personnel moving to any other part of the Armed Forces including the UK Regulars or another Reserve population not in the FR20.

Figure 7 shows the total outflow rate which takes into account the growth of total strength.
The total outflow rates for each service in the 12 months to 28 February 2017 are as follows:
The Maritime Reserve total outflow rate was 25.4 per cent; an increase of 5.4 percentage points since the 12 months to 29 February 2016.
The Army Reserve total outflow rate was 12.7 per cent; an increase of 1.6 percentage points since the 12 months to 29 February 2016.
The RAF Reserves total outflow rate was 17.8 per cent; an decrease of 3.9 percentage points since the 12 months to 29 February 2016.

Rounding Figures in this publication have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example; a value of “25” would be rounded down to “20” and a value of “15” would be rounded up to “20”. Additionally, totals and sub-totals are rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts. Percentages are calculated from unrounded data and presented to one decimal place.



https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/607727/Monthly_service_personnel_statistics-March2017.pdf




From today, 1 Jan 17, the UK assumes responsibility for NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) contributing about 3,000 personnel, with 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade (20 Armd Inf Bde) leading a framework group of 14 partner nations.

The VJTF is part of NATO’s enhanced NATO Response Force (eNRF) which was agreed at the 2014 Wales NATO Summit when allies decided to strengthen the Alliance’s collective defence and ensure NATO has the right forces in the right place at the right time.

Also known as the ‘spearhead force’ it consists of 20,000 personnel and includes Land, Air, Maritime and Special Forces components.
The ‘land’ component is known as the VJTF(L)*.
During this year 20 Armd Inf Bde will provide the VJTF(L) Brigade HQ, armoured infantry and light role infantry battlegroups plus communications, reconnaissance, intelligence capabilities, combat support and logistic elements, which will ensure that the multinational brigade can operate as a rapidly deployable and effective fighting force.

Exercise GRIFFIN STRIKE, held on Salisbury Plain in April, saw 5,000 British and French soldiers, sailors and airmen and women of the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF) training together.

The culmination of six years of joint exercises and interoperability tests between the British and French military, EX GRIFFIN STRIKE brought the land, air and sea components of the CJEF concept together in realistic scenarios with French armoured vehicles, UK aircraft and airborne forces, and infantry, armoured personnel and medics from both countries.

A two-day Logistic Assurance ‘wargame’ was held in Tidworth in May, to analyse the logistic risks and challenges to Defence to mount, deploy and sustain the VJTF(L) force at very short notice to anywhere within or outside NATO’s borders. More than 200 UK and NATO personnel took part in the planning exercise, ahead of the Warsaw Summit held in July.

Exercise SWIFT RESPONSE in June saw paratroopers from 16 Air Assault Brigade and 3 PARA taking part in the largest parachute drop since the end of the Cold War with the US 82nd Airborne Division and the Polish 6th Airborne Brigade. 1800 descended on drop zones in Poland and Germany supported by, among others, aircraft from Joint Helicopter Command.

*The VJTF(L) comprises a multinational brigade (approximately 5,000 troops), with up to five manoeuvre battalions, supported by air, maritime and Special Forces.
Once fully operational, the VJTF will be supplemented by two additional brigades, as a rapid-reinforcement capability, in case of a major crisis.
If activated, the force will be available to move immediately, following the first warnings and indicators of potential threats, before a crisis begins, to act as a potential deterrent to further escalation.
The rapid arrival of this small but capable military unit would send a very clear message to any potential aggressor: "any attempt to violate the sovereignty of one NATO nation will result in a decisive military engagement with all 28 allied nations”.
The VJTF is established on a rotational and persistent basis and will not be permanently based.
The VJTF’s rapid yet flexible response times are what set it apart from other components of the NRF; some units will be ready to deploy in just two days, whilst the majority of units will be ready to move in less than seven days.

http://www.army.mod.uk/news/28881.aspx

The UK is supporting the VJTF(L)17 with the following capabilities:

VJTF(L) Brigade Headquarters (20 Armoured Infantry Brigade – part of 3rd (United Kingdom) Division)
Light Infantry Battlegroup
Armoured Infantry Battlegroup
Artillery Group
Engineer Group
Armoured Cavalry
Multi-Role Signal Regiment
Military Police
Air Defence
Aviation (Attack and Support Helicopters)
Combat Service Support Group (to include Logistic Support, Medical Support and Equipment Support)

The VJTF is part of NATO’s enhanced NATO Response Force (eNRF) which was agreed at the 2014 Wales NATO Summit when allies decided to enhance the previous NRF to strengthen the Alliance’s collective defence and ensure that NATO has the right forces in the right place at the right time.

The eNRF will now consist of up to 40,000 personnel – a major increase from the previous level of 13,000 – depending on the task it is needed for.

The VJTF(L) 16 framework nation is Spain and for the VJTF(L) 17 it will be the United Kingdom. France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey have offered to serve as lead nations in the following years.

VJTF(L) 17

The following force elements are taking part:
United Kingdom: Headquarters 20 Armoured Infantry Brigade, 1st Batallion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, 1st Batalion Grenadier Guards, 26 Regiment Royal Artillery, 35 Engineer Regiment, The Queen’s Royal Hussars, The Royal Dragoon Guards, 77th Brigade, 1st Regiment Royal Military Police, Joint Helicopter Force 3, RLC, REME
Denmark: Armoured Infantry, Engineers
Poland: Mechanised Infantry Batallion
Czech Republlic: CBRN Company
Spain: Artillery, Engineers, Infantry
Estonia: Mechanised Infantry Company
Latvia: Light Infantry
Norway: Recconaisance Platoon
Romania: Military Police

http://www.army.mod.uk/news/28690.aspx

The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2017

Accenture - Professional Services
Addleshaw Goddard - Legal
Ashurst LLP - Legal
BAE Systems - Engineering
Barclays - Financial Services
BNY Mellon - Financial Services
British Army - Military
BT - Telecommunications
Capgemini UK - Professional Services
Carillion PLC - Support Services
Citi - Financial Services
CMS - Legal
Deloitte LLP - Professional Services
Department for Transport - Public Sector
DHL - Supply Chain Logistics
EDF Energy - Energy
Enterprise Rent-A-Car - Automotive
Eversheds Sutherland LLP - Legal
EY - Professional Services
Goldman Sachs International - Financial Services
Greater London Authority - Public Sector
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP - Legal
Hogan Lovells International LLP - Legal
Home Office - Public Sector
HSBC - Financial Services
J.P. Morgan - Financial Services
KPMG - Professional Services
Linklaters LLP - Legal
Lloyds Banking Group - Financial Services
Marks & Spencer - Retail
McKinsey & Company - Consulting
Mercer - Consulting
MI5 - Public Sector
Morgan Stanley - Financial Services
Norton Rose Fulbright - Legal
Ofcom - Public Sector
PepsiCo UK and Ireland - Consumer Goods
Pinsent Masons LLP - Legal
Post Office - Retail
PwC - Professional Services
RBS - Financial Services
Royal Mail Group - Postal Services
Shell UK - Oil & Gas
Sky - Entertainment & Telecommunications
Sodexo UK & Ireland - Facilities Management
Southbank Centre - Arts
State Street - Financial Services
Unilever - Consumer Goods
Vodafone - Telecommunications
Yorkshire Water - Utilities

The Times Top 50 Employers for Women methodology

The Times Top 50 Employers for Women list is managed by Business in the Community’s gender equality campaign. There is a single combined entry process for both The Times Top 50 Employers for Women list and the Business in the Community Gender Equality Awards. Entry is by self-nomination and open to any employer with a presence and activity in the UK. Employers supply detailed information on how they are working towards gender equality in their workplace, spanning strategy, objectives, leadership and gender balance at every level. Only the 50 organisations identified as Top Employers are eligible to be considered for a Business in the Community Gender Equality Award.

http://gender.bitc.org.uk/awards-benchmarking/TTT502017

Responding to a question from Lord Pearson, the Ministry of Defence admitted that there were only 1,070 lieutenants in the Regular Army and 510 in December 2016, down from 1,560 and 550 in April of the same year.

Since 2011 until April 2016 there has been a steady decline in the number of subalterns, from 2,270 in April of that year, before the significant decline in numbers took place.

The total number now stands at 1,580, a drop of some 30 per cent.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/758672/British-Army-Crisis-as-recruiting-drops-31-per-cent-in-8-months

The United Kingdom is one of a small number of countries worldwide to recruit children (defined as any person under the age of 18*) into the armed forces. It is the only country in Europe and the only permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council to do so.

Enlistment into the British armed forces has been voluntary since the 1960s, when National Service ended.

Today, the armed forces can accept applications from individuals aged 15 years and 7 months or more, with a view to enlisting successful candidates on or close to their 16th birthday.
In the financial year 2015 – 2016, 22.2% of recruits into the UK army were under the age of 18.

When recruited into the armed forces, children are initially not permitted to leave for a period of six weeks, beginning from their first day. They cannot leave during this time even if their parents or guardians inform the army that their children wish to come home. They may only be granted permission to leave at the discretion of their commanding officers.
After this initial period, and before six months have passed since their first day, children have the right to give 14 days’ notice in writing to their commanding officer.
Following these six months, children have the right to give three months’ notice until they reach the age of 18. This period of three months can only be reduced if both the child and their commanding officer agree.
As soon as they reach their 18th birthday, and if six months have passed from the date they enlisted, recruits in the army have no ‘discharge as of right’ until they turn 22.

The fatality rate of the (frontline) combat infantry in Afghanistan was seven times higher than that in the rest of the armed forces. Soldiers who enlisted at the age of 16 were approximately twice as likely to be killed or injured in Afghanistan when compared to soldiers who enlisted above the age of 18.

Rates of alcohol misuse are considerably higher in the UK armed forces than in the general population. The relative frequency of hazardous drinking among military men is nearly twice as high as that in the general population, and three times higher for military women.

http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/TermsofService.pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_f0UKLAPEC9elA1ZGtUeFo3dlpTVEpRYk01ZHlOMXJmeGZv/view

The Prime Minister announced on 8 July 2016 that the exemption on women serving in ground close combat roles would be lifted. Roles that were previously excluded to women were the Royal Marines General Service, the Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps, the Infantry and the Royal Air Force Regiment. From November 2016 women will be able to join the Royal Armoured Corps, both Regular and Reserve. The remaining ground close combat roles will open to women in late 2018, once additional health mitigations are in place.
The Armed Forces are exempt from elements of the employment provisions of the Equality Act 2010 for reasons of combat effectiveness

The 2020 targets are:

To increase female personnel to 15 per cent of total intake by 2020.

To increase Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) personnel to at least 10 per cent of total intake by 2020, and on the way to 20 per cent.

Since the 12 months ending 31 March 2016, when target monitoring began, the proportion of females joining the UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 has increased by 0.2 percentage points, as shown Figure 1.

Since the 12 months ending 31 March 2016, when target monitoring began, the proportion of BAME personnel joining the UK Regular Forces and Future Reserves 2020 has increased by 0.1 percentage points, as shown in Figure 2.

At 1 October 2016 10.2 per cent of the UK Regular Forces were female (15,280 personnel), remaining stable since October 2015. Figure 3 shows that the RAF has the greatest proportion of female personnel followed by the RN/RM and the Army. This is partly explained by restrictions on roles available to women and the nature of the roles in each of the Services.

In comparison, 13.8 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 were female (4,890 personnel), 3.6 percentage points higher than the UK Regular Forces. The number of females in the Future Reserve 2020 has increased at the same rate as the males and as a result the proportion of females has remained fairly stable since 1 October 2012. This is mainly due to the Future Reserves 2020 programme plans to increase the size of the Reserve Forces.

At 1 October 2016, there was a greater proportion of female Officers in the Future Reserves 2020 (18.0 per cent) than the UK Regular Forces (12.9 per cent).
Compared with the UK Regular Forces, the Future Reserves 2020 has a higher female representation of Officers in every Service as shown in Figure 4. This trend has stayed constant since October 2012.

Since April 2012, the proportion of female Officers in the UK Regular Forces has increased by 0.5 percentage points. In the UK Regular Forces there is a general trend of lower proportions of female personnel in the higher ranks within both Officers and Other Ranks.

In the Future Reserves 2020 there has been a sharp increase of 6.6 percentage points in the proportion of female Officers in the RAF Reserve whilst the Maritime Reserve and the Army Reserve have decreased by 2.0 and 0.8 percentage points respectively, since 1 October 2012.

In the 12 months to 30 September 2016, 1,340 female personnel joined the UK Regular Forces; 9.8 per cent of total intake. This has remained stable compared with the 12 months to 30 September 2015.
Intake of female personnel is higher for Officers (16.5 per cent), than for Other Ranks (9.0 per cent).
In the 12 months to 30 September 2016, female intake was:
270 personnel (8.7 per cent) into the RN/RM
740 personnel (8.9 per cent) into the Army
320 personnel (14.8 per cent) into the RAF

Figure 5 shows that whilst more female personnel are leaving the UK Regular Forces than are joining, which is in-line with the wider trend for the UK Regular Forces, the difference has markedly decreased in recent years.
In the 12 months to 31 March 2013 there was a net outflow of 760 female personnel, which has decreased to a net outflow of 120 in the 12 months to 30 September 2016. This translates to a 83.6 per cent decrease.
Female personnel accounted for 9.4 per cent of all outflow from the UK Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2016, a slight increase of 0.2 percentage points compared with the 12 months to 30 September 2015 (9.2 per cent).

In the 12 months to 30 September 2016, 1,060 female personnel joined the Future Reserves 2020; this is 14.6 per cent of total intake.
Intake of female personnel is higher for Officers (16.9 per cent), than for Other Ranks (14.4 per cent).
Figure 6 shows that the number of female personnel joining the Future Reserves 2020 (intake) was initially lower than the number of females leaving (outflow). A crossover occurred in the 12 months to 30th September 2014, since this intake of female personnel has remained greater than outflow.

Declaration of ethnic origin is not mandatory for Armed Forces personnel. These statistics relate to personnel with a known ethnicity.
At 1 October 2016, the percentage of personnel who declared an ethnicity was:
UK Regulars 99.1%
Future Reserves 2020 98.7%

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) personnel accounted for 7.0 per cent of the UK Regular Forces (10,470 personnel), at 1 October 2016.

As at 1 October 2016, 5.3 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 (1,870 personnel) declared a BAME ethnicity.
For both the UK Regular Forces and the Future Reserves 2020, the Army and Army Reserve have the greatest proportion of BAME personnel; accounting for more than 80.0 per cent of all BAME personnel.
At 1 October 2016, 95.6 per cent of the UK Regular Forces and 98.3 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 had a UK Nationality

At 1 October 2016, BAME personnel represented:
2.4 per cent of Officers and 8.0 per cent of Other Ranks in the UK Regular Forces; remaining stable since October 2015.
3.7 per cent of Officers and 5.7 per cent of Other Ranks in the Future Reserves 2020; the latter increasing slightly for the Other Ranks since October 2015.

BAME personnel accounted for 5.4 per cent of intake into the UK Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2016, see Figure 9.
Despite an overall reduction in the proportion of all BAME personnel joining the UK Regular Forces since 2013, there has been an increase in the proportion of BAME personnel with a UK Nationality joining.

Future Reserves 2020
BAME personnel represent 6.5 per cent of intake in the 12 months ending 30 September 2016, this is an increase of 0.9 percentage points since 30 September 2013 when flow data was first available for all three Services.
Figure 10:
BAME intake to the Future Reserve 2020 by Service shows that since the 12 months ending 30th September 2013 the proportion intake who are BAME in the:
Maritime Reserve has decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 3.4 per cent
Army Reserve has increased by 1.1 percentage points to 7.1 per cent
RAF Reserves has increased by 1.2 percentage points to 5.3 per cent

Declaration of Religion is not mandatory for Armed Forces personnel. These statistics only relate to personnel who have made a declaration.
At 1 October 2016, the proportion of personnel who had made a declaration was:
UK Regular Forces 99.5%
Future Reserves 2020 95.8%

At 1 October 2016, 74.2 per cent of the UK Regular Forces and 75.7 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 declared a Christian religion. Both have seen a decrease in the last year of around 2.0 percentage points, in line with the long term decreasing trend.

At 1 October 2016 the proportion of personnel declaring no religious affiliation was 23.4 per cent (34,990 personnel) in the UK Regular Forces and 22.1 per cent (7,520 personnel) in the Future Reserves 2020; an increase of 2.2 and 1.4 percentage points respectively since 1 October 2015, following the long term trend.

Since 1 October 2015, the proportion of personnel declaring no religion has increased in all the Services

As at 1 October 2016, 24.6 per cent of the UK Regular Forces and 14.9 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 were under 25 years old. In the last year, this has remained broadly stable for both populations.
Of the Officers 7.2 per cent of the UK Regular Forces and 5.8 per cent of the Future Reserves 2020 were under 25 years old.

Figure 14 indicates that Officers in the UK Regular Forces are generally younger than Officers in the Future Reserves 2020. As at 1 October 2016 the average age for Officers in the UK Regular Forces was 37 years old compared to the Future Reserves 2020 where the average age was 43 years old.

The average age of Other Ranks in the UK Regular Forces is also generally younger than the Future Reserves 2020. As at 1 October 2016 the average age for the UK Regular Forces Other Ranks was 6 years younger than the Future Reserves 2020.

In the 12 months to 31 August 2016, 50.1 per cent of those joining the Future Reserves 2020 had previously served in the UK Armed Forces

In the 12 months ending 30 September 2016, 9.9 per cent of intake to the UK Regular Forces were Officers (1,350 personnel). Figure 15 shows that, of this total, 8.6 per cent were aged 30 and over and the remaining 91.4 per cent were aged 18 to 29.
Officer intake age profiles are heavily influenced by personnel joining having left higher education, with 66.2 per cent of all officer intake occurring between ages 20 and 24.

The first point at which Regular personnel can leave voluntarily is normally after 4 years of Service for personnel aged over 18; each Service has slightly different guidelines.
A notable peak in the outflow for Officers can be seen at ages 50-54.
Pre-2015, a full career engagement lasted until age 55; a limited number of Armed Forces personnel could serve beyond the age of 55.

For Future Reserves 2020 personnel, intake and outflow are fairly similar for each age group, whereas for Regular personnel under the age of 30, intake is significantly higher than outflow and vice versa for personnel over 30. This reflects the different eligibility requirements between Regulars and Reserves.

During 2014, 1,015 female Service personnel took maternity leave; this is 6.4 per cent of the average strength of female personnel for the year. This is consistent with the previous year where 6.4 per cent of female personnel took maternity leave.
Figure 17 shows that a slightly higher proportion of Officers (6.7 per cent) took maternity leave in 2014 compared with Other Ranks (6.4 per cent).

Amongst Officers, the RAF has the highest proportion of women taking maternity leave (7.6 per cent), followed by the RN/RM (6.3 per cent) and the Army (6.1 per cent).
In Other Ranks, the RAF has the highest proportion of women taking maternity leave (7.2 per cent) followed by the RN/RM (6.1 per cent) and the Army (6.0 per cent).

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/574734/Biannual_Diversity_Statistics_1Oct16.pdf

A transgender soldier in the British army has become the first female to serve on the frontline.
Guardsman Chloe Allen said she hoped to inspire others to be themselves, after speaking out about beginning the process of gender reassignment.
The 24-year-old, who is in the Scots Guards, told the Sun it was a relief to talk openly about it and said her family had been accepting of her decision. Allen, who joined the army four years ago as Ben, has now officially changed her name and started hormone therapy.
The guardsman was still living as Ben Allen when a fellow serviceman discovered her dressed in female gear.
Chloe, who was deployed on ceremonial duties guarding royal residences in London, said she was overcome with worry, but that her fellow soldier’s reaction had set her at ease.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/17/transgender-soldier-is-first-female-to-serve-on-the-front-line

The British army has appointed its first female general. Susan Ridge will be promoted to the rank of major general in September when she will become the army’s top legal adviser.

General Sir Nicholas Carter, the head of the army, said: “I am very pleased for Sue, she is a talented and committed officer who is widely respected throughout the army.”

Female soldiers make up only 8.9% of the 82,000-strong British army, and Carter has said he would like to see that figure rise to 15% in five years.

Women have been promoted into similarly senior ranks elsewhere. Two years ago, Elaine West was promoted to what was then the highest rank ever held by a woman in the armed forces, when she was made an RAF air vice-marshal.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/06/british-army-first-female-general-susan-ridge

Glossary of Terms: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/569187/Tri-Service_Glossary_-_Nov16.pdf

By 2025 we will be able to deploy a force of around 50,000 drawn from:
Maritime Task Group of around 10-25 ships and 4,000 to 10,000 personnel
Army Division of 3 brigades and supporting functions of around 30,000 to 40,000 personnel
Air Group of around 4-9 combat aircraft squadrons, 6-20 surveil lance platforms and 5-15 transport aircraft and 4,000 to 10,000 personnel
Joint Forces, including enablers and headquarters, of around 2,000 to 6,000 personnel

In headline personnel terms, we will be slightly increasing overall regular numbers, maintaining an Army of 82,000 and increasing the size of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, by 400 and 300 respectively.
We will continue to increase our Reserves to 35,000.
In line with wider Government measures, we will be reducing the number of civilians employed by the MOD to around 41,000. Defence will in future be drawing more heavily on people and skills within the private sector.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/494895/SDSR_2015_Booklet_vers_15.pdf

UK Defence in numbers 2016

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/561135/UK_Defence_in_Numbers_2016-revised.pdf

The 2016 Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey was distributed to a sample of 28,119 trained UK Regular Armed Forces personnel between September 2015 and February 2016, using both online and paper questionnaires. Participants were chosen using stratified simple random sampling, designed to ensure sufficient responses from each Service and from each rank group within each Service, whilst minimising respondent burden.

Just under half (46%) of Service personnel are satisfied with Service life in general. This is unchanged since 2015 but remains below the level of satisfaction seen in previous years.

Overall, morale has remained stable since 2012; 40% of personnel currently report high morale. Morale in the Royal Navy has increased since 2015, but this is offset by a decrease in the RAF.

76% of personnel report that they are proud to be in their Service, which is unchanged from 2015.

The overall number of personnel who would recommend joining their Service is also unchanged at 45% in 2016, however in the RAF there have been declines in both pride and in those who would recommend others to join, over the last year.

Among those who have put in their notice, the impact of Service life on family and personal life remains the top reason for leaving the Armed Forces. In 2016, more personnel cite current job satisfaction as a reason for leaving than in previous years, making it the second most common reason.

Satisfaction with Service life is unchanged from 2015 at 46%. The level of satisfaction has, however, fallen over time, and is 15 percentage points lower than a peak of 61% in 2009.
In 2016, Officers are more satisfied than Other Ranks (56%, 44%).
RM Officers are the most satisfied (75%), whereas RN Other Ranks are the least satisfied (39%).

The percentage of RN Officers who are satisfied with the sense of achievement they get from their work has however increased by six percentage points from 2015 to 66%.

Officers are more satisfied than Other Ranks with the challenge in their job (70%, 51%)

The proportion of personnel who agree that they have a strong personal attachment to their unit has increased by two percentage points to 49%. Army Other Ranks agreement increased five percentage points to 50% in 2016.

76% of personnel are proud to be in their Service.

Although the Royal Marines remain the Service with the highest proportion of pride (80%), this figure has decreased by three percentage points from 2015, largely due to a reduction in pride in the Other Ranks.
Similarly, pride has declined for RAF Other Ranks, dropping six percentage points to 70%.

After an increase in 2015 in the proportion of personnel who would recommend others to join their Service, overall results have stayed stable this year at 45%.
The Royal Navy have seen an overall increase of four percentage points in the proportion who would recommend joining the Service, taking this up to 41%.
Although there has been little change overall, both RM and RAF have seen a decrease in agreement taking these down four percentage points and six percentage points to 53% and 43% respectively.
At 2016, RM agreement remains the highest of the Services at 53%.

84% of all personnel agree that team members work well with people from different backgrounds.
82% of personnel agree that 'We have confidence in ourselves as a team'.
Officers are generally more positive than Other Ranks about the teams they belong to.
The proportion of Royal Navy Officers who agree that their team can be relied upon to help has increased by four percentage points since 2015 to 90%.
The proportion of Army Officers who agree their team can be relied upon has increased by four percentage points since 2015 to 89%.

Army Officers remain most likely to have had working contact with Reserves (73%).
Around two-thirds of RAF Officers (69%) have had contact with Reserves, an increase of 7 percentage points since 2015.
Royal Navy Officers have also seen an increase in contact with Reserves, rising from 56% in 2015 to 63%.
The RAF are the most likely to have had working contact (55%) with Reserves over the last two years.
70% of RAF personnel consider the Reserves well-integrated, compared to 53% overall. 85% consider them to be professional (84% compared to 63% overall), and to value their contribution (74% compared to 61%).

Service personnel are more likely to value the contribution of MOD Civil Servants (75%) than MOD contractors (66%) or Armed Forces Reserves (61%).
The RAF (74%) are most likely to value the contribution of Reserves, compared to 53% of Royal Marines.
Royal Marines are the least likely to value the contribution of civil servants (66%) or contractors (53%).
The proportion of Army Officers who rate the contribution of MOD contractors as 'not very or not at all' valuable has risen from 27% in 2015 to 34%.
The proportion of RAF Other Ranks who rate the contribution of MOD contractors as 'not very or not at all' valuable has increased from 26% to 32% over the last year.

Royal Navy personnel, however, are much more likely than any other Service to state that deployments are too frequent (37%) or too long (42%), especially the Other Ranks.
In 2016 there has been an increase in the proportion of Royal Marines and Army who believe that their operational deployments are not frequent enough.

Since 2015, there has been a three percentage point decline to 66% in the satisfaction with deployment notice.
This is largely due to Royal Marine Other Ranks satisfaction, which decreased from 61% to 54% this year.
Army Officers are most satisfied with their deployment notice.
65% of all personnel are satisfied with pre-operational training. Army personnel are more satisfied than those in any other Service (70%).

Army are the most satisfied Service with welfare support (54%).
Royal Navy personnel are least happy with the welfare support they receive on return from deployment, with more personnel stating that they are dissatisfied (33%) than satisfied (28%).
Royal Marine Other Ranks’ satisfaction decreased six percentage points from 2015 to 45%.
Royal Navy personnel are also least happy with the support for their family upon return from deployment, with more personnel stating that they are dissatisfied (39%) than satisfied (25%).
The proportion of RAF who are dissatisfied decreased from 35% to 30% in 2016.

87% of personnel across the Services agree that they have the knowledge, skills and experience to do their job and 73% agree that these skills are being utilised.

The majority (59%) of personnel continue to say that they plan to stay in their Service for as long as they can or until the end of their current engagement/ commission (Chart 8.1).
A quarter of personnel say they intend to leave before the end of their current engagement or commission, which includes 8% intending to leave as soon as they can, and 4% who have already put in their notice to leave.

Two out of five (38%) personnel have very or quite actively searched for a job outside the Services in the last 12 months, the same proportion as last year.

Under the Future Force 2020 programme, the MOD has introduced financial incentives for Regular personnel to join the Reserve Forces on completion of their Regular service.
AFCAS includes questions on whether personnel would consider joining the Reserves on a full-time or part-time basis.
Overall, personnel are more likely to consider joining than they were in 2015.
One in five (19%) would consider joining full-time, up from 17%.
A quarter (27%) would consider joining part-time, up from 24%.
Officers are more likely to consider joining full-time (24%) or part-time (39%), than Other Ranks (18% and 24%).
The proportion of Officers who would consider joining part-time has increased from 32% in 2015.
RAF Officers (30%) are most likely to consider joining full-time, compared to 13% of Royal Marine Officers.

From a high in 2014 of 27% spending between seven and twelve months away, this proportion fell to 22% in 2015 and there is a further decline to 18% in 2016. The reduction in time spent away is evident across all four Services.

A breakdown by Service for 2016 shows that RN personnel spend the most time away (26%) compared to 20% of RM, 18% of Army and 10% of RAF respondents.

Of the Other Ranks the proportion of the RAF rating how happy they were yesterday as 4 or below was the lowest at 24%. Similarly RAF Other Ranks also had the smallest proportion rating 4 or below for feeling things they do in life are worthwhile at 17%.
RM Officers were found be the least anxious, having the largest proportion of personnel rating their anxiety yesterday 4 or below (77%) with an overall proportion of 66% for Officers across all services.

Overall Officers are less satisfied than Other Ranks with all opportunities to take part in fitness activities, sport and adventure training.
However, Officers are more satisfied than Other Ranks with the standard of sport, exercise and fitness facilities (78% and 74%).
Other Ranks in the RN are less satisfied with their opportunity to undertake fitness activities (62%) than all other services.
Officers from the RAF and RN have the lowest proportion of satisfied personnel, both at 60%.
The proportion of all personnel satisfied with opportunity to take part in adventure training was 45%. RAF Other Ranks were found to have higher satisfaction with their opportunity than all other services at 52%

Just over half of Service personnel (52%) report that they are married or in a civil partnership and a further 22% are in a long term relationship.
Around half (51%) state that they have children that they support financially.

Four out of five Service personnel report that they are registered to vote

Army personnel are the least likely to be registered (74%), but this has also increased, from 60% in 2012 and 68% in 2015

Data collection ran from September 2015 to February 2016, a relatively long period which allows time for receiving paper responses from personnel serving overseas.

The total AFCAS 2016 sample consisted of 28,119 personnel.

12,782 responses were used in the AFCAS 2016 analysis, giving an overall response rate of 45%.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523875/AFCAS_2016_Main_Report.pdf 

Armed Forces Day

https://www.armedforcesday.org.uk/about/

SOLDIER - Armed Forces Magazine

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/fc3cfeaa#/fc3cfeaa/12

Army photographic competition 2016

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2016/oct/26/army-photographic-competition-2016-in-pictures

Royal Engineers Historical Facts
- Sappers are named after the trenches or 'Saps' they constructed during siege warfare against fortresses.
- The Royal Engineers Corps football team won the FA Cup in 1875.
- Major General Scott of the Royal Engineers designed and oversaw the construction of the Royal Albert Hall.
- Sappers invented military diving in 1838 and taught the first Royal Navy divers.
- The Colonel-in-Chief of the Corps of Royal Engineers is HM the Queen.
- Colonel Bye of the Royal Engineers built the Rideau Canal in Canada from Quebec to Lake Ontario.
- The Corps of Royal Engineers features in a poem 'Sappers' by Rudyard Kipling, which includes the lines: "There's only one Corps that is perfect - that's us; An' they call us Her Majesty's Engineers"
- Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers commanded the defence of Rorke's Drift in the 1879 Zulu War. He was immortalised by actor Stanley Baker in the film Zulu.
- In 1911, the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers became the first unit responsible for manned balloons, airships and kites. The Air Battalion became the Royal Flying Corps in 1912 and then the Royal Air Force in 1918.
- Civil engineering, as it is known today, was once the preserve of the military.


http://www.army.mod.uk/royalengineers/26400.aspx

UK Armed Forces Equipment and Formation 2016 (published 6 September 2016)

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/550258/UK_Armed_Forces_Equipment_and_Formations_2016.pdf

FHTB is an advance of salary scheme which was introduced in April 2014 and allows Regular Armed Forces personnel to borrow money in order to buy their first home or move to a new location.

In March 2017: •
782 First Stage applications were received.
458 Second Stage applications were received.
330 payments were made to Service personnel.

Since the Scheme began:
21,895 First Stage FHTB applications have been received.
13,065 of these applications have proceeded to the Second Stage.
Payment has been made to around 10,500 applicants, totalling over £159 million, an average of approximately £15,100 per claim.
At least 95% of payments have already resulted in a purchased property or extension.

The FHTB scheme was launched in April 2014 with the aim of supporting and encouraging home ownership amongst Service Personnel, whose level of home ownership has historically been lower than the rest of the UK population.
Regular Service Personnel can borrow up to 50% of their gross annual salary (to a maximum of £25,000) to buy their first home, move to another or in exceptional circumstances extend an existing property.

Figure 1 shows that the number of First Stage applications received in March 2017 (782) is higher than last month, and higher than the average number of applications received since the scheme began (608). After the large number of applications received in the first month of the scheme (1270), the number of applications has been fairly consistent over time.

As can be seen in Figure 2, the number of Second Stage applications received in March 2017 (458) was higher than the previous month (421). The longer time-series shows that there has previously been some seasonal variation in the number of applications each month, with lower numbers of applications typically received in August and December. However, the number of Second Stage applications is largely in the range of 200-400 per month.

In March 2017, 330 payments were made under the FHTB scheme. As can be seen in Figure 3, this is higher than the previous month (251). The number of payments made in March 2017 is higher than in March 2015 (306) and March 2016 (267).

At 31 March 2017, a total of 10,533 payments have been made under the FHTB scheme since it was introduced in April 2014.
With an average claim of approximately £15,100 this has resulted in an expenditure of over £159 million.
In March 20171 17% of payments were made to Officers compared to 83% of payments made to Other Ranks. This reflects the proportions of Officers (18%) and Other Ranks (82%) that make up the Regular Full-time trained strength population.
The largest share of payments (56%) in March 2017 was made to Army personnel, with 18% of payments made to RN/RM personnel and 26% made to RAF personnel.
By comparison, at 1 February 20172 , Army personnel made up 57% of the Regular Full-time trained strength population, RN/RM personnel 21% and RAF 22%.

Of those Service personnel who have received a payment under the FHTB scheme since it began,
one third (33%) were aged 25-29.
Over a quarter (27%) of those who have used the FHTB scheme were aged 30-34 and
17% were in the age range 35-39.
7% of payments have been made to personnel aged between 18-24 and
1% to those aged over 50.

These proportions approximately mirror the general age breakdown of the Armed Forces.
At 1 October 2016,
around one quarter (24%) of Service personnel were aged 25-29 and
one fifth (19%) were aged 30-34.
Around 3% of Service personnel were in the age group 50+.
The exception to this trend is those aged 18-24 who made up one quarter (25%) of the Armed Forces population.

Figure 6 shows the estimated proportions of payments used to purchase or extend properties in each UK region under the scheme since it began.
At 30 March 2017, almost a quarter (23%) of payments were used to purchase or extend properties in the South West of England – the largest share of any region.
The regions with the lowest share of payments were Northern Ireland (1%) and London (1%).
These proportions have remained stable since September 2016.

At 1 January 2017, the majority of Service personnel were located in the South East and South West with 38,090 and 37,200, respectively.
The fewest were located in the North East with 1,120 personnel.

Payment figures in this publication have been rounded to the nearest £1 and the average payment rounded to nearest £100. Percentages are calculated from unrounded data and rounded to the nearest whole number, therefore may not sum to 100%.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/610678/20170427-FHTB_Official_Stats_March.pdf

Glossary of Terms

Officer 
An officer is a member of the Armed Forces holding the Queen’s Commission to lead and command elements of the forces. Officers form the middle and senior management of the Armed Forces. This includes ranks from Sub-Lt/2nd Lt/Pilot Officer up to Admiral of the Fleet/Field Marshal/Marshal of the Royal Air Force, but excludes Non-Commissioned Officers

Other Ranks / Ratings 
Other Ranks are members of the Royal Marines who are not Officers (but Other Ranks do include Non-Commissioned Officers). The equivalent group in the Royal Navy is known as “Ratings”.

Ministry of Defence 
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for the development and implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the UK Armed Forces. The principal objective of the MOD is to defend the United Kingdom and its interests. The MOD also manages day to day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement.

RNR 
Royal Naval Reserve is the Volunteer Reserve element of the Royal Navy. Together with the Royal Marine Reserve they make up the Maritime Reserve.

RMR 
Royal Marine Reserve is the Volunteer Reserve element of the Royal Marines. Together with the Royal Naval Reserve they make up the Maritime Reserve.

Maritime Reserve 
Is the Volunteer Reserve element of the Naval Service that count towards the Future Reserve 2020 (FR20) programme. They comprise the Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Marine Reserve and include mobilised and High Readiness Maritime Reserve personnel, plus Maritime Reserve personnel serving on FTRS and ADC contracts.
The FR20 Trained Strength target for the Maritime Reserve is 3,100.

FTRS 
FTRS (Full-Time Reserve Service) are personnel who fill Service posts for a set period on a full-time basis (this is different from mobilisation) while being a member of one of the Reserve Forces, either as an ex-regular or as a volunteer. Each Service uses FTRS personnel differently. The Naval Service predominantly uses FTRS to backfill gapped regular posts. However, they do have a small number of FTRS personnel that are not deployable for operations overseas.

FTRS Regular 
FTRS Personnel counted against the Regular Liability

FTRS Non Regular 
FTRS Personnel not counted against the Regular Liability

Transfer Trainees 
Trained Personnel undergoing further training in an alternative discipline

GS 
General Service - Surface Fleet

SM 
Submarine Service

FAA 
Fleet Air Arm – The Royal Navy’s Aviation branch.

VO 
Voluntary Outflow - all voluntarily generated exits from trained personnel

TX 
Time Expiry - personnel who leave service at the end of their engagement

OW 
Other Wastage - outflow from trained strength due to a number of reasons, including (but not limited to) disciplinary, death, medical

JPA 
Joint Personnel Administration: the system used by the Armed Forces to deal with matters of pay, leave and other personnel administrative tasks. JPA replaced the Naval Service IT system in November 2006

QARNNS 
Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service - the Nursing branch of the Royal Navy which work alongside the Royal Navy Medical branch

Strength 
The number of personnel (for each Service, strength is partially determined by its requirement)

Trained Strength 
Comprises military personnel who have completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 training: Phase 1 training includes all new entry training to provide basic military skills Phase 2 training includes initial individual specialisation, sub-specialisation and technical training following Phase 1 training prior to joining the trained strength

Untrained Strength 
Comprises military personnel who have yet to complete Phase 2 training

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/608021/20170411_-_FINAL_-_RN_RM_Monthly_Situation_Report__rounded_.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/526131/MOD_sponsored_cadet_forces__statistics_2016.pdf

The majority of personnel are located in the South East and South West of the UK with 9,700 and 17,460 personnel, respectively.
The fewest personnel are located in the North East with 250 personnel.
The South West has the largest increase in personnel 670 between 01 January 16 and 01 January 17.
The biggest reduction between 01 January 16 and 01 January 17 was to the South East with a decrease of 210 from 9,910 to 9,700.

The strength of UK Regular Forces stationed overseas decreased from 10,620 to 9,150 (13.8%) between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2017. Over the same period, the number of MOD civilian personnel based overseas decreased from 5,620 to 5,290 (5.9%).

The greatest impact will be in the Army, who in April 2010 accounted for 98.4% of the personnel stationed in Germany.

UK Armed Forces Regular personnel stationed in Germany have been declining over the past five years. The strength has fallen from 19,090 in April 2010 to 3,900 in January 2017. This is a decrease of 15,190. The largest decrease by financial year was the last financial year with over 4,500 personnel leaving.

When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Where rounding has been used, totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/591841/20170128-QLS_Front_Page_January17.pdf

This quarterly report provides statistical information on the number of UK Armed Forces personnel and UK Entitled civilians, who died, were injured or became ill on Operations:
KIPION (Middle East),
SHADER (Iraq and Syria),
TORAL (Afghanistan) and
GRITROCK (Ebola crisis in West Africa).
This report covers the time period 1 June 2011 (the earliest date statistics are available for Operation KIPION) to 31 March 2017 (the latest data available).

Between 1 June 2011 and 31 March 2017, there were 609 UK Service personnel who died, sustained an injury or had an illness whilst on operations.
Of these:
four died on operations,
none were Battle Injuries (BI),
286 were Non Battle Injuries (NBI) and
319 were Natural Causes including Disease (NC).
Of the 609 UK Service personnel, 28 were sustained within the latest Quarter (Q4).
Of the injuries/illnesses recorded within this quarterly statistical release:
One UK Service personnel died on operations whilst on Op SHADER in Q3/Q4 2016/17.
13 UK Service personnel sustained an injury or illness on Op KIPION in Q4 2016/17.
25 UK Service personnel sustained an injury or illness on Op SHADER in Q3/Q4 2016/17.
Seven UK Service personnel sustained an injury or illness on Op TORAL in Q4 2016/17.
23 UK Service personnel were aeromedically evacuated out of the operational theatres during Q4 2016/17.

Between 1 June 2011 and 31 March 2017, there were 35 UK Entitled civilians who sustained an injury or illness whilst on operations. Of these, none were sustained within the latest Quarter (Q4). All 35 UK Entitled civilians were Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) personnel.

During the latest quarter 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2017 (Q4 2016/17), there were 28 UK Service personnel who died, sustained an injury or had an illness whilst on operations.
Of these:
one died on operations,
15 were Non Battle Injuries and
12 were Natural Causes.
Between 1 January 2017 and 31 March 2017: Of the 15 Non Battle Injuries,
one was an Incapacitating Injury,
12 were Unlisted Conditions and
two were Unknown.
Of the 12 Natural Causes,
seven were Unlisted Conditions and
five were Unknown.
233 UK Service personnel were aeromedically evacuated from operations.

Glossary 

BI Battle Injury. 
A Battle Injury includes those wounded as a result of hostile action. This includes injuries sustained whilst avoiding direct or indirect fire. Also described as ‘wounded in action’.

NBI Non-Battle Injury 
A Non-Battle Injury is any injury that is not caused by a hostile act and includes any accidental injuries such as sports injuries, road traffic accidents etc.

NC Natural Causes 
Natural Causes includes illness, disease and pregnancy.

NOTICAS 
Notification of Casualty Notification of Casualty (or NOTICAS) is the name for the formalised system of reporting casualties within the UK Armed Forces. The NOTICAS reports raised for casualties contain information on how seriously medical staff on operations judge their condition to be.

VSI Very Seriously Injured/Ill 
Where the patient’s condition is of such severity that life or reason is imminently endangered.

SI Seriously Injured/Ill 
Where the patient’s condition is of such severity that there is cause for immediate concern, but there is no imminent danger to life or reason.

III Incapacitated Injury/Illness 
Any illness or injury (including battle casualties) which does not warrant classification of VSI or SI but renders then physically and/or mentally incapacitated.

UL Unlisted casualty 
An individual whose illness or injury requires hospitalisation but whose condition does not warrant classification as VSI, SI or III.

HA Hostile Action 
Hostile action includes deaths categorised as Killed in Action or Died of Wounds.

KIA Killed in Action 
A battle casualty who is killed outright or who dies as a result of wounds or other injuries before reaching a medical treatment facility.

DOW Died of Wounds 
A battle casualty who dies of wounds or other injuries received in action, after having reached a medical treatment facility. This only includes those who have died of wounds whilst under the care of Defence Medical Services.

DOP Died on Operations 
A casualty who died whilst deployed on, or as a result of operations but is not KIA or DOW. Includes operational accidents, road traffic accidents, assaults, suicides and deaths as a result of natural causes.

AECC 
Aero-medical Evacuation Control Centre

Aeromedical Evacuation 
(AE) is the medically supervised movement of patients to and between medical treatment facilities by air transportation.

JPA Joint Personnel Administration 
JPA is the personnel administration system used by the UK Armed Forces. It is the single authoritative source for demographic information for personnel.

NGO
Non-Governmental Organisation

KTTU 
Kerry Town Treatment Unit

PJHQ Permanent Joint Headquarters 
Permanent Joint Headquarters is the British Tri-Service Headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled.

RFA Royal Fleet Auxilliary 
The civilian-manned Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) delivers worldwide logistical and operational support for the wide range of tasks the Royal Navy undertakes including warfighting, counter-piracy, humanitarian and disaster relief, and counter-narcotics operations.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/608648/20170420_ENCLOSURE_1_Quarterly_UK_Armed_Forces_and_UK_Entitled_Civilian_Operational_Casualty_and_Fatality_Statistics_1_Jun_11_to_31_March_17.pdf

Since the end of World War II, 7,1842 UK Armed Forces personnel have died as a result of operations in medal earning theatres

The largest number of deaths among UK Armed Forces personnel in one operation was the loss of 1,4422 lives in Malaya.
NATO or United Nations led operations in Cyprus, the Balkans and Afghanistan are ongoing.
As at 17 February 2017:
- Four UK Armed Forces personnel have died as a result of operations in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
- 72 UK Armed Forces personnel have died as a result of operations in the Balkans.
- 456 UK Armed Forces personnel have died as a result of operations in Afghanistan

The largest number of deaths among UK Armed Forces personnel occurred as a result of operations in Malaya between 16 June 1948 and 31 July 1960 (1,442 deaths), see Table 1. The British Army was deployed to Malaya when the British Government declared a state of emergency following the formation of the Malay Races Liberation Army.

The second largest number of deaths among UK Armed Forces personnel occurred as a result of operations in Northern Ireland between 14 August 1969 and 31 July 2007 (1,441 deaths). Operation BANNER was the operational name for the British Armed Forces operation in Northern Ireland. British troops were initially deployed at the request of the Unionist government of Northern Ireland to support the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). After the 1998 Belfast Agreement, the operation was gradually scaled down. Its role was to assert the authority of the Government of the UK in Northern Ireland.

The third largest number of deaths among UK Armed Forces personnel occurred as a result of the United Nations led operations in Korea between 27 June 1950 and 27 July 1954 (1,129 deaths). At the end of The Second World War the Korean peninsula had been divided into North and South Korea. In June 1950 North Korean Communist forces invaded South Korea. An American led UN-approved coalition, including a British Commonwealth Brigade, was deployed to support the South against the North's Chinese backed communist forces.

United Nations led operations in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and NATO led operations in the Balkans are ongoing, with the deaths of four and 72 UK Armed Forces personnel to date respectively.

As at 17 February 2017, 456 UK Armed Forces personnel have died as a result of operations in Afghanistan.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/603234/20170330_UK_Armed_Forces_Operational_deaths_post_World_War_II-O.pdf

What am I going to do with all this?

I'm going to find the most interesting information and create informative yet interesting infographics using the information to be used in my publication, to compliment the interviews showcased. These infographics should not shine the Armed Forces in a particularly negative light though, however should still be factually correct, from reputable sources, and be interesting and fun and engaging.