Ministry of Defence written question – answered at on 17 May 2024.
John Healey
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average amount of time is that an (a) officer and (b) rating serves in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Andrew Murrison
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence
Making the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) an attractive and rewarding employer remains of paramount importance and promoting retention efforts to extend the length of service of our sailors enables the RFA to retain skilled personnel.
The table below provides the average length of service on exit by trained RFA Personnel between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2023.
Rank | Mean | Median |
Officer | 15 years 3 months | 8 years 6 months |
Rating | 13 years 9 months | 11 years 4 months |
Average Length of Service (LOS) has been calculated by the length of current service, against the difference between the sailor’s joining and exit dates.
Data has been provided for all exits from the RFA, including Resignation Under Age 60, Resignation Aged 60 or Over, and Other Wastage including Dismissal, Forced Early Retirement, Medical Discharge, Contract of Employment not offered, Offer of Employment Rejected and Death Whilst in Service.
Yes2 people think so
No2 people think not
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