Defence chiefs have sacked 5,000 soldiers for drug abuse in just five years, figures show

More than a battalion’s worth of soldiers are being sacked every year for drug abuse, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Defence chiefs are alarmed that the use of Class A drugs is now rife within the Armed Forces, with new figures revealing that more than 5,000 personnel from across the services have been sacked after failing compulsory drugs tests in the past five years.

A Freedom of Information request reveals that frontline pilots and sailors on board the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines have been dismissed.

Dozens of Special Forces troops, including SAS soldiers, have also tested positive in the past decade.

Last year, the Ministry of Defence sacked 950 personnel after they failed drug tests. Almost two-thirds had tested positive for cocaine. 

Former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured) introduced a zero-tolerance approach for drug use in 2018, saying it was the only way to ensure excellence was maintained

But his successor Ben Wallace (pictured) has acknowledged some people are ‘young and irresponsible’ and said that senior officers should decide whether soldiers deserve to be sacked

Drug abuse is greatest in the Army, where last year 700 soldiers were fired after testing positive for drugs – 460 for taking cocaine.

Every Army unit visited by compulsory drug-testing teams in the past three years was found to have troops who had used illegal drugs.

The figures mean that the Army, already seriously under strength, is losing the equivalent of well over a battalion of troops – on average 550 personnel – every year.

It comes as the number of serving soldiers has fallen below 80,000 troops – its smallest size in 200 years.

Last night, Dr Hugh Milroy, chief executive officer of the charity Veterans Aid, said: ‘As an RAF officer who served for 17 years, I fully understand the operational implications of drug use – but it is a fact of life. 

One solution might be to create a formal ‘Hands up for help’ system rather than initiate instant discharge. Or even a second chance process?

‘It would help with retention of expensively trained personnel.’

Former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson introduced a zero-tolerance approach for drug use in 2018, saying it was the only way to ensure excellence was maintained.

But his successor Ben Wallace has acknowledged some people are ‘young and irresponsible’ and said that senior officers should decide whether soldiers deserve to be sacked.

The Ministry of Defence said: ‘Substance abuse is unacceptable in the Armed Forces and we robustly enforce a zero-tolerance policy to drug use.’