This year's Armed Forces Day national event will be hosted by Rushmoor Borough Council at Aldershot and Farnborough on Saturday, 27th June 2026, with other events taking place across the UK on or around the same date.

When Armed Forces Day was started by the then Labour government one view was that armed forces personnel were hardly honoured by giving them extra work at the weekend.

In practice, events have tended to involve a wide community effort, with considerable local authority input, and - without downplaying the preparation and time involved - forces personnel themselves being as much as possible the 'stars' rather than the 'general dogsbodies'.

We certainly wouldn't argue with the need to improve and reinforce engagement between the armed forces and the community.

Armed Forces Day in the UK started 20 years ago as 'Veterans' Day'. It was rebranded as Armed Forces Day in 2009 to better recognise all branches of the military, including serving regular and reserve personnel, veterans, and cadets. The main national event is held annually on the last Saturday in June; last year's was hosted by Ards and North Down Borough Council at Newtownards Airfield.

Armed Forces Day isn't the same one-size-fits-all event across the United Kingdom. The lead organiser can be the Council, the Legion, or a community organisation. For Armed Forces Day 2026 events in your area, visit this link:

• Armed Forces Day - Find Events

Events will continue to be added to that page until much nearer the date. We would encourage every organisation holding a bona fide Armed Forces Day event to make sure it gets added to the list, as sometimes that gets overlooked.

An MOD written parliamentary answer to James Cartlidge MP (Cons, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence) reveals that in just under 20 months, nearly sixty thousand applications to join the armed forces were rejected on medical grounds.

The answer also revealed striking disparities amongst the figures for the respective services -

Rejections per service

• Army: 45,680 rejected on medical grounds
• RAF:   12,310
• Navy:    1,020

Although not specifically stated, these figures are for regular forces. Applying them to the approximate current size of each regular force reveals a huge variation in the proportion per service of applicants rejected on medical grounds -

Rejections compared with approx service size

• Army ∼ 62% rejections as %age of current force
• RAF   ∼ 41% rejections as %age of current force
• RN/RM ∼3% rejections as %age of current force

Another way to view these figures is that the Army rejected on medical grounds around 6 applicants for every 10 serving soldiers; the RAF rejected around 4 applicants per 10 serving aviators, and the RN/RM rejected less than one applicant per 10 serving sailors or marines.

Comparing the medical rejection figures with annual targets, however, shows the Army and the RAF rejecting about the same percentage on medical grounds, with the RN/RM rjecting far fewer -

Medical rejections compared with target recruitment intake

• Army - around 2.7 rejections per target recruit
• RAF - around 2.6 rejections per target recruit
• RN/RM - around 0.2 rejections per target recruit

Differences in the Navy rejection figures could be partly explained by differences in their recruiting pipleine structure, and differences in recording.

The number of medical rejections, especially for the Army, remains a concern.

It is not difficult to understand various justifications for imposing strict medical standards for the armed forces. It is also clear that some applicants rejected on medical grounds would have failed on other grounds anyway, or not continued their applications.

Reducable medical-related processing delays have, however, lost us many potential recruits, for the reserve forces as well as the regulars.

Based on Army recruiting data 2020-2024, around half of all UK Army medical rejections arise from psychiatric history, with musculoskeletal problems accounting for roughly 11–15%.

All other causes—such as asthma, eyesight problems or neurological conditions—each represent only small single-digit percentages of disqualifications.

(As a sidenote, the statistics for medical discharge of serving personnel reverse that pattern, with musculoskeletal first and mental health second.)

The importance of baseline mental health in the military profession is obvious. But increased awareness of mental health in society has meant that compared to the past, many more potential recruits now have mental health incidents in their medical record, perhaps from adolescence.

Modest but welcome adjustments were therefore made in 2024 with an update to Joint Service Publication (JSP) 950 Leaflet 6-7-7, which outlines the medical entry standard for the Armed Forces; up-to-date copies can be found online.

For example, a history of depression does not automatically disqualify candidates if they have recovered and meet stability criteria. The rules for Autism spectrum conditions and ADHD have also been adjusted but not removed.

The Ministry of Defence has announced that for the first time, free, independent legal advice will be available to victim-survivors of rape and sexual offences (allegedly) committed by Service personnel or a civilian subject to Service Discipline that are being investigated by the Service Justice System.

The Independent Legal Advocacy (ILA) support programme pilot will, from Spring 2026, provide impartial legal support to any such victim-survivors aged 18 or over, irrespective of whether they themselves are Service personnel or civilians.

Veterans & People Minister Louise Sandher-Jones said that anyone who reports a sexual offence or rape allegedly committed by a service person, or civilians subject to Service Law, and is being investigated by the Service Justice System, will qualify for support.

She told BFBS Forces News: "At the moment as a victim the kind of support that you will access through the military will be mostly that which focuses on pastoral. So, for example, our Victims and Witnesses Care Unit is mostly focused on pastoral support to you as a victim.

"What this independent legal advocacy system will do is provide you with free legal advice so you're able to understand the process that is in front of you, what decisions to make and have the confidence to know that what you're doing is the right thing for you."

The MOD is in the process of choosing a law firm to provide the legal advisers. The programme is set to begin in the spring and will initially run as a 12-month pilot.

Comment: The announcement follows huge concern over cases such as Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck, the 19-year-old British Army soldier whose death by suicide in 2021 has triggered major scrutiny into the handling of sexual assault and harassment complaints within the military. It will be interesting to know what areas of expert legal advice would be covered by the scheme, but no doubt it will include help to navigate a victim's journey through the service justice system as a complainant and witness.

The need remains for any service personnel suspected of, or charged with, serious crimes to have access to expert legal advice and representation from the earliest stage of their case.