In recent years, emerging evidence has highlighted that those who leave the Armed Forces prior to completing the minimum term of their contract (i.e., under four years) – known as Early Service Leavers (ESLs) – may be vulnerable to a range of post-Service challenges [1, 2, 3]. As the Armed Forces Covenant highlights the need to care for all those who have served in the Armed Forces for even ‘just a day’, it is important to examine this group further to understand their needs [4]. This news feature draws together existing evidence about ESLs, the kinds of issues that they encounter, what support is available to them, and identifies gaps in current research that could be addressed to better understand this potentially at-risk group.
