§
Dr. Moonie
[holding reply 17 December 2002]: The information provided is captured in different ways for each of the three services, therefore the figures given are not directly comparable on a Tri-Service basis. All figures are based on both trained and untrained personnel.
Naval Service
The Naval Service figures given are for the period 1 January-31 December for all years with the exception of 2002 where the figures relate to the period 1 January-16 December.
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| Royal Navy1 |
| Year |
Number reported AWOL |
| 1998 |
29 |
| 1999 |
34 |
| 2000 |
57 |
| 2001 |
91 |
| 2002 |
108 |
| 1 A warrant is issued on the 7th day of absence unless it is known that an individual will be absent before the 7th day, in which case a warrant is issued sooner. Once a warrant is issued the individual is classed as AWOL. |
| Royal Marines2 |
| Year |
Number reported AWOL |
| 1998 |
4 |
| 1999 |
1 |
| 2000 |
2 |
| 2001 |
4 |
| 2002 |
4 |
| 2 The above figures relate only to Royal Marines on land and not those deployed on seagoing duties. They will be recorded in the Royal Navy figures. |
| Army3,4 |
| Financial year |
Number reported AWOL |
| 1997–98 |
1,357 |
| 1998–99 |
1,419 |
| 1999–2000 |
1,673 |
| 2000–01 |
1,834 |
| 2001–02 |
1,567 |
| 3 Only one officer was found to be AWOL during the period 1 April 1997–31 March 2002. Subsequently, the above table only shows other ranks. |
| 4 A person is classed as AWOL if he/she does not report for duty on a particular day. On the 6th day of absence, a signal is sent, if the person has still not reported for duty after 21 days, a Board of Inquiry will meet to investigate the absence. This will report by the 29th day of absence; it will then decide whether to class the person as AWOL. This will then be backdated to start from the first day of absence. |
| Royal Air Force5,6,7 |
| Financial year |
Number reported AWOL |
| 1997–98 |
24 |
| 1998–99 |
32 |
| 1999–2000 |
35 |
| 2000–01 |
28 |
| 2001–02 |
20 |
| 5An individual who is reported AWOL on more than one occasion within the same calendar year is counted once in the year they were reported absent. |
| 6An individual who reported AWOL in one calendar year and is still absent in the following year is counted in the year they were reported absent. |
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| 7The table does not address certain specific categories within AWOL. An AWOL person is classed as someone who did not report for duty on a particular day. However, after they have failed to report for duty for 23 days a Board of Inquiry can declare the individual "illegally absent". (There has been only one illegal absentee in each of the financial years and they are included in the above figures). Service personnel do not become deserters until either it is known they are not going to return voluntarily and/or are subsequently arrested and found guilty of desertion at court martial. |