§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many commissioned officers there are in(a) the Army, (b) the Royal Navy and (c) the Royal Air Force; and how many are of Afro-Caribbean origin. [83074]
§ Mr. Doug Henderson[holding answer 4 May 1999]: As at 1 March 1999, the numbers of all commissioned officers, and the number of commissioned officers whose known ethnic category is either 'Black-African' or 'Black-Caribbean' is as shown in the table:
All ethnic origins Black-African1 Black-Caribbean1 Naval Service 7,733 8 6 Army 12,707 12 12 Royal Air Force 10,798 9 17 Total 31,238 29 35 1These numbers are based on the self-classification of ethnic origin used by individual members of the Armed Forces. There are a further 24 officers who have classified themselves as 'Black-Other'.