Armed Forces Redundancies

The Armed Forces are undergoing a dramatic reduction in size and reorganisation. An Armed Forces Redundancy scheme is currently underway to achieve some of the reductions outlined in 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Additional reductions for the Army were announced in July 2011 after a ‘Three Month Review’. Altogether 33,000 personnel, 19% of the Armed Services, are to leave the services which will be achieved through a combination of redundancy, natural wastage and reduced intake.

Four tranches of redundancies have been announced. Over 11,000 personnel have been selected for redundancy in three tranches, in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The fourth and final tranche, announced on 23 January 2014, will make up to 1,500 personnel redundant. This affects the Army and a small number of medical and dental officers from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.