§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for the latest year for which records exist and for the preceding three years, what was the average length of 43W involuntarily separated or unaccompanied tours of duty for service personnel in (a) the Army, (b) the Royal Air Force, (c) the Royal Navy, (d) the Royal Marines and (e) the women's services.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonStatistics on the average lengths of involuntarily unaccompanied tours of duty are not maintained. The practice in the Army and the Royal Air Force is that postings where personnel are required to serve unaccompanied should not normally exceed six months. For the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, unaccompanied tours arise mainly when personnel are at sea. The average length of sea postings is about two years, although not all that time will be spent away from home.