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Mr. Berry
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of those currently serving in the armed forces joined when under 18 years of age. [66221]
Mr. Doug Henderson
The numbers of those serving in the Armed Forces at 1 December 1998 who joined when they were under 18 years of age is as follows:
| Total | Officers | Other Ranks | |
| Total | 83,490 | 12,560 | 80,930 |
| Naval Service | 18,861 | 1226 | 18,635 |
| Army | 46,608 | 2,247 | 44,361 |
| Royal Air Force | 18,021 | 187 | 17,934 |
| 1 The Naval Service and Royal Air Force figures exclude those Officers who have previously been promoted from the ranks as the relevant data is not held centrally. | |||