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Written question asked by Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative) on Thursday, 8 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 12 December 2005. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 December 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Deployment Times

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the average time between tours was for (a) Infantry Regiment and (b) the Royal Marines in the last two years;
Answer

The average periods between operational tours for certain elements of the Army, including the Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery and Infantry, are calculated as tour intervals. The average tour interval for Infantry Battalions over the past two years has been 21 months. Other force elements, including the Royal Marines and combat support services of the Army do not calculate periods between operational tours in the same way.As the hon. Member will be aware, since operations commenced in Iraq in 2003, the Army's deployments have been divided into discreet roulement periods shown in the following table. The average deployment period in Iraq for both the Regular and TA is 5.3 months.

Months
Operation Deployment period Regular TA
Telic 1 February to July 2003 3.5 to 5 4
Telic 2 July to November 2003 4.5 4
Telic 3 November 2003 to May 2004 6 6
Telic 4 May to November 2004 6 6
Telic 5 November 2004 to May 2005 6 6
Telic 6 May to November 2005 6 6

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
37252; 440 c2760W
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Army Deployment Iraq Territorial Army
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk