The White Paper on Defence of February 2000 sets out a figure of 10,500 personnel for the Permanent Defence Force, comprising 930 for the Air Corps, 1,144 for the Naval Service and 8,426 for the Army. The strength of the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service and the number of female personnel by rank within these services, as advised by the military authorities, is provided in the following table. The figures provided are as at 30 September 2003 in respect of the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service.
In previous years the trend for general service recruitment has been that 9% of all applicants have been female and that on average 9% of enlistments have been female. It is obviously not possible to predict what the relevant percentages will be in any future intake of recruits but there is no reason to assume that this pattern will change to a great degree. A total of 15.4% of applicants for the 2003 cadetship competition were female while 15.5% of successful candidates were female.
Women are eligible for service in the Army, the Air Corps, the Naval Service and the Reserve Defence Force, and compete for all appointments on an equal basis and under the same general conditions as those which apply to men. All female personnel undergo the same training and receive the same military education as their male counterparts. To encourage increased participation by women in the Defence Forces, I decided in March 1998 to reduce the height requirement for all female recruits to 5'4" and this height requirement now also applies to male recruits.
Strength of the Defence Forces
30 September 2003
|
Lt. Gen
|
Maj Gen
|
Brig Gen
|
Col
|
Lt. Col
|
Comdt.
|
Capt
|
Lt.
|
TotalOffrs
|
SM
|
BQMS
|
CS
|
CQMS
|
Sgts
|
Cpls
|
Total NCO
|
Ptes
|
Cadets
|
Total
|
Army
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
36
|
119
|
355
|
282
|
230
|
1,032
|
32
|
41
|
141
|
249
|
1,058
|
1,595
|
3,116
|
4,234
|
96
|
8,478
|
Air Corps
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
12
|
35
|
24
|
60
|
134
|
8
|
4
|
53
|
15
|
130
|
206
|
416
|
347
|
16
|
913
|
Naval Serv.
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
13
|
40
|
22
|
60
|
138
|
7
|
7
|
75
|
15
|
199
|
141
|
444
|
454
|
29
|
1,065
|
Strength of Females in the Defence Forces
30 September 2003
|
Lt. Gen
|
Maj Gen
|
Brig Gen
|
Col
|
Lt. Col
|
Comdt.
|
Capt
|
Lt.
|
Total Offrs
|
SM
|
BQMS
|
CS
|
CQMS
|
Sgts
|
Cpls
|
Total NCO
|
Ptes
|
Cadets
|
Total
|
Army
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
11
|
30
|
33
|
75
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
10
|
84
|
98
|
204
|
15
|
392
|
Air Corps
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
7
|
12
|
1
|
23
|
Naval Serv.
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
14
|
16
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
42
|
5
|
64
|
Strength of Males in the Defence Forces
30 September 2003
|
Lt. Gen
|
Maj Gen
|
Brig Gen
|
Col
|
Lt. Col
|
Comdt.
|
Capt
|
Lt.
|
TotalOffrs
|
SM
|
BQMS
|
CS
|
CQMS
|
Sgts
|
Cpls
|
Total NCO
|
Ptes
|
Cadets
|
Total
|
Army
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
36
|
118
|
344
|
252
|
197
|
957
|
32
|
41
|
138
|
248
|
1,048
|
1,511
|
3,018
|
4,030
|
81
|
8,086
|
Air Corps
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
12
|
35
|
23
|
58
|
131
|
8
|
4
|
52
|
15
|
130
|
200
|
409
|
335
|
15
|
890
|
Naval Serv.
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
13
|
40
|
20
|
46
|
122
|
7
|
7
|
75
|
15
|
199
|
140
|
443
|
412
|
24
|
1,001
|