The information requested is as follows.
(a) The standard operational tour length for the Army is six months; therefore, over the last 10 years the majority of Army units (that is Infantry, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Royal Signals and Royal Logistic Corps) will have deployed for longer than four months. Based on data held at HQ Land Command the table illustrates when, between 2003 and 2007, Infantry, Royal Armoured Corps and Royal Artillery units deployed on an operation which was longer than four months. Deployments are noted in the year they commenced.
Ser Unit Deployed 2003 2004 2005 2006 12007 Infantry 1 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards 0 1 0 0 1 2 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards 0 0 1 0 0 3 1st Battalion Scots Guards 0 1 0 0 0 4 1st Battalion Irish Guards 1 0 0 0 1 5 1st Battalion Welsh Guards 0 1 0 1 0 6 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 RS)3 2 (one of which commenced November 2002) 0 0 1 0 (As l Scots) 7 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 KOSB)3 0 0 0 0 8 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 0 0 0 0 0 9 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 1 0 1 20 0 10 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 1 1 0 0 0 11 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland 0 1 1 0 0 12 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment 0 1 0 1 0 13 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment 1 0 1 0 0 14 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 21 0 1 0 0 15 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 0 0 20 0 0 16 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment 0 0 1 0 1 17 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment 1 0 0 1 0 18 1st Battalion The King’s Own Royal Border Regiment4 0 0 1 — — 19 1st Battalion The King's Regiment4 0 20 0 — — 20 1st Battalion The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment4 0 20 20 — — 21 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment — — — 0 0 22 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment — — — 1 0 23 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment 0 1 0 1 0 24 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment 0 1 0 1 0 25 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment 20 1 0 0 0 26 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh 0 1 0 0 1 27 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh 1 0 1 0 1 28 1st Battalion The Cheshire Regiment (1 MERCIAN) 0 1 0 0 0 29 1st Battalion The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (2 MERCIAN) 1 1 0 0 1 30 1st Battalion The Staffordshire Regiment (3 MERCIAN) 1 (commenced November 2002) 0 1 1 0 31 1st Battalion The Rifles (1RGBW)5 1 (commenced December 2002) 0 1 0 0 (as 1 RIFLES 32 1st Battalion The Rifles (1 DDLI)5 0 0 0 1 33 2nd Battalion The Rifles 0 1 0 1 0 34 3rd Battalion The Rifles 20 1 0 20 0 35 4th Battalion The Rifles 0 0 0 0 1 36 5th Battalion The Rifles 1 0 0 1 0 37 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment 0 0 1 0 0 38 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment 1 0 1 39 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment 1 (commenced September 2002) 0 1 0 0 40 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment 1 0 20 1 0 41 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles 1 0 1 0 0 42 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles 1 0 1 0 0 Royal Armoured Corps 43 The Household Cavalry Regiment 20 1 0 20 20 44 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards 1 1 0 1 0 45 The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 1 0 1 0 0 46 The Royal Dragoon Guards 0 1 0 0 0 47 The Queen’s Royal Hussars 1 20 0 1 0 48 9th/12th Royal Lancers 21 0 1 0 0 49 The King’s Royal Hussars 1 0 1 0 20 50 The Light Dragoons 0 0 1 20 20 51 The Queen’s Royal Lancers 0 1 0 1 0 52 2nd Royal Tank Regiment 20 0 0 20 20 Royal Artillery 53 1 Regt RHA 0 1 1 0 1 54 3 Regt RHA 2 0 1 0 0 55 4 Regt RA 1 1 0 1 0 56 5 Regt RA 20 20 20 20 20 57 7 (Parachute) Regt RHA 1 20 0 20 0 58 12 Regt RA 1 0 1 20 0 59 16 Regt RA 20 0 0 0 20 60 19 Regt RA 0 0 1 0 1 61 22 Regt RA7 1 — — — — 62 26 Regt RA 1 1 0 20 0 63 29 Commando Regt RA 0 0 0 1 0 64 32 Regt RA 20 20 20 20 20 65 39 Regt RA 0 0 0 1 20 66 40 Regt RA 0 0 0 1 0 67 47 Regt RA 1 0 20 1 0 1 Up to and including deployments on Op TELIC 10 and Op HERRICK 6. 2 Subunits from this Regiment deployed for longer than 4 months in support of operations during this year. 3 1 RS and 1 KOSB amalgamated to form 1 SCOTS in August 2006. 4 1 KORBR, 1 KINGS and QLR amalgamated in July 2006 to form 1 LANCS and 2 LANCS. 5 1 RGBW and 1 DDLI amalgamated in March 2007 to form 1 RIFLES. 6 1 PARA transferred to DSF in August 2005. 7 22 Regt RA disbanded in April 2004.
(b) From 2003, the Royal Navy reports that the number of surface ships that were deployed for more than four months in each of the corresponding years were:
Number 2003 40 2004 32 2005 34 2006 38 2007 41
Average fleet size over this period was around 72 ships (68 in 2003 to 77 in 2007). A more detailed breakdown could be provided at only disproportionate cost.
(c) The Royal Air Force does not deploy units in the same way as the Royal Navy and Army. The Royal Air Force allocates a tasking to an Expeditionary Air Wing for a given period of time to a given theatre of operations. An Air Wing once given the task will deploy personnel from a number of different squadrons on a trickle feed basis. Individual Separated Service figures are therefore used instead to measure turbulence and sustainability.