Armed forces and support personnel

The armed forces and support personnel employee figures provide a count of the UK regular forces and civilian personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The regular forces figures include personnel in the British Army, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

The figures are regular forces personnel counts and full-time equivalents (FTE) for civilian personnel, based on the stationed location, home base or port, or workplace. Regular forces are separated into Officer rank personnel and personnel of other ranks. Civilian personnel figures are divided into industrial, non-industrial, and Trading Fund and Executive Agencies personal (see the further information section for details).

The latest figures are for 2025.

Key figures

• There were 640 regular forces personnel based in Lancashire-12 in 2025.

• The majority of the regular forces in Lancashire-12 were British Army forces (620), with a small number of RAF forces (20).

• There were 1,130 civilian personnel based in Lancashire-12 in 2025.

• The majority of civilian personnel in Lancashire-12 were non-industrial personnel (1,100), undertaking work such as administration, analysis, policy, procurement, finance, medical, dental, teaching, policing, science, and engineering.

• Compared to the previous year, the number of regular forces more than tripled from 140 in 2024, while the number of civilian personnel decreased by 2.6%.

Source: Location statistics for UK regular armed forces and civilian personnel from the Ministry of Defence.

Regular forces sites in Lancashire

Fulwood Barracks is the headquarters of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, the Infantry Regiment of the North West of England. The 1st battalion of the regiment is based at Weeton Barracks in Fylde, and the 4th battalion of the regiment is based at Kimberley Barracks in Preston. Further information can be found on the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment's website.

Samlesbury Aerodrome and Warton Aerodrome have long been utilised by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Lancashire and are operational sites belonging to BAE Systems. At present, there are no squadrons listed as stationed at sites within Lancashire on the RAF website.

MOD sites in Lancashire

Veterans UK at Norcross in Wyre is a major employment site for MOD civilian personnel in Lancashire. Veterans UK works to support for veterans and their families, including administering pensions and compensation schemes. More information is available on the Veterans UK website.

The land owned by the Ministry of Defence for the purpose of training the armed forces is known as the Defence Training Estate (DTE). Within Lancashire, Halton Training Camp in Lancaster is a 19-hectare, general-purpose training camp with the emphasis on the Army Reserve and Cadet training at weekends and mid-week as a base for regular army units undergoing training.

Holcombe Moor Training Area is a general-purpose facility used by the Army Reserve, Army Cadets and the regular armed forces. The main part of the site is outside the county, but part of the 303-hectare site that includes an area of Rossendale.

Reserve forces

Each of the three services has a reserve element, including the Army Reserve, Maritime Reserve (comprising the Royal Navy Reserve and Royal Marines Reserve) and RAF Reserve. Reservists include volunteer reservists, who are civilians who train a set number of days per year, and regular reservists, who are former members of the Regular Forces. Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel can refer to either volunteer or regular reservists who have been called up for paid full-time service. The number of FTRS are published at a UK-level only and are therefore not included here.

The North West Reserve Forces & Cadets Association (NW RFCA) promotes the Volunteer Reserve Forces of all three Armed Services (Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Marines Reserve, Army Reserve, and Royal Auxiliary Air Force) and the three Cadet organisations (Sea Cadets, Army Cadets, and RAF Air Cadets) in the region. More information is available on the NW RFCA website.

Further information

Location statistics for UK regular armed forces and civilians are published annual by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Figures are rounded to the nearest 10, or if ending in 5, to the nearest 20. Subtotals may not sum to total due to rounding.

UK Regular Forces

UK Regular Forces data are sourced from MOD administrative records and include both trained and untrained personnel and comprise full time Service Personnel, including Nursing Services, but excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel, Gurkhas, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS) and mobilised reservists.

Location data are based on the stationed location of the individual. Personnel deployed on operations to an area away from their stationed location are shown against their most recent stationed location. Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel on sea service are included against the local authority containing the home port of their ship. RAF Other Ranks serving in the South Atlantic are shown against the location containing their home base. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) are excluded from all location breakdowns as this data is not available.

MOD civilian personnel

The civilian personnel figures are compiled from multiple sources and include employees working in the major organisational groupings of the MOD, the executive agencies, the royal fleet auxiliary and locally engaged civilians.

Civilian personnel figures are broken down into industrial, non-industrial, and Trading Funds and Executive Agencies:

• Industrial - Civilian personnel who are primarily employed in a trade, craft or other manual labour occupation.

• Non-industrial - Civilian personnel who are not primarily employed in a trade, craft or other manual labour occupation. This covers a wide range of personnel undertaking work such as administration, analysis, policy, procurement, finance, medical, dental, teaching, policing, science and engineering.

• Trading Funds and Executive Agencies - MOD Executive Agencies are self-accounting units that have greater freedom than other government departments in managing their own financial and management activities. These are the UK Hydrographic Office, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory, Submarine Delivery Agency, and Defence Equipment & Support.

Page updated 19 March 2026