In July 2010 the (now defunct) Defence Analytical and Statistics Agency (DASA) published ‘Army Nationality and Return of Service Report (An Analysis of Nationality on Length of Service)’.

Introduction

This report identifies the differences in behaviour between trained soldiers of Foreign and Commonwealth (F&C) and UK nationality in respect to achieved length of trained service.

Summary of Analysis of Nationality

The comparison of the behaviour of UK and Foreign and Commonwealth (F&C) soldiers shows that the Total Trained Regular Soldier Army Strength of soldiers with UK nationality has reduced each year since April 1996. At the same time total soldier strength for Fijian, Other F&C (excluding Fijian but including Irish) and Total F&C (including Fijian and Irish) nationalities all increased from April 1999 to April 2006.

The combined results for 2 intake cohorts show that for an individual who joined the Trained Regular Soldier Strength in 2000/01 or 2001/2:

• All exits – By 4-5 year length of trained service (LOTS), approximately 45% of UK nationals, 32% of Other F&C and 19% of Total F&C had left the Trained Regular Soldier Strength compared to 9% of Fijians.
• Voluntary exits – By 5-6 year length of trained service (LOTS), approximately 30% of UK national’s, 22% of Other F&C and 11% of Total F&C had left the Trained Regular Soldier Strength by voluntary outflow compared to 3% of Fijians.

Overall this report shows that UK nationals and Other F&C nationals behave in a similar way, but Fijian and Vincentian soldiers tend to stay in the Army longer. The UK and Other F&C groups display similar behaviour in Survival Strength, Outflow and Voluntary Outflow. Although the Foreign and Commonwealth population do behave differently from the UK population this is largely influenced by the Fijian and Vincentian populations that behave differently. There are substantial proportions of Fijians and Vincentians in the F&C population and these are most likely to have better returns of service.

Reference & Document

Army Nationality & Return of Service Report (2010-06-06)