§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the actual strength of the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, and Royal Marines on 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2004. [HL1238]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)The information requested is given in the table below.
Figures are for UK Regular Forces, including both trained and untrained personnel; and therefore exclude Gurkhas, full-time Reserve Service personnel, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, mobilised reservists and naval activated reservists.
83WA
Strength of UK Regular Service personnel on 1 April 1997 and 1 April 2004 Service 1 April 1997 1 April 2004 Royal Navy Officers 7,220 7,030 Other Ranks 31,230 26,610 Total 38,450 33,640 Royal Marines Officers 700 740 Other Ranks 6,000 6,510 Total 6,700 7,240 Army Officers 13,720 14,720 Other Ranks 95,090 98,030 Total 108,810 112,750 Royal Air Force Officers 11,040 10,960 Other Ranks 45,830 42,430 Total 56,870 53,390 All figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Due to the rounding methods used totals may not always equal the sum of the parts.