Armed Forces: Eyesight

Lady Hermon
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) male and (b) female recruits to the Royal Navy Air Crew Pilot Branch were accepted with myopia of (i) -0.75 exactly, (b) less than -0.75 and (c) more than -0.75 are in both eyes in the last 12 months; and what the required eyesight standards for similar disciplines in other parts of the armed forces. [Official Report, 10 June 2009, Vol. 493, c. 7MC.]

Mr. Kevan Jones
The number of male and female recruits to the Royal Navy Air Crew Pilot Branch accepted with myopia in both eyes in the last 12 months are provided as follows.

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|         |Male|Female|
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|<-0.75|1   |0     |
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|-0.75    |9   |0     |
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|-0.75>|0   |0     |
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The Aircrew Entry Visual Standard for myopia of -0.75 is common across all three services. However the nature of secondary duties undertaken by Royal Navy personnel requires their pilots to pass an additional colour perception test.