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Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 26 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 October 2006. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 November 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Army (Deployments)

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the last three operational deployments were of (a) 40 Commando, (b) 42 Commando, (c) 45 Commando and (d) 28 Regiment Royal Engineers; and what the length of time was between each such deployment.
Answer

The last three operational deployments of 40 Commando, 42 Commando and 45 Commando are set out in the following table. Figures in brackets indicate the length of time between the deployments.

Operational deployments
1 2 3
40 Commando RM July 2004-January 2005 Operation Telic 4 (Iraq) (14 months) January-May 2003 Operation Telic 1 (Iraq) (6 months) January-May 2002 Operation Damian (Afghanistan)
42 Commando RM Since October 2006 Operation Herrick 5 (Afghanistan) (38 months) January 2003-May 2003 Operation Telic 1 (Iraq) (4 months) March 2002- September 2002 Operation Banner (Northern Ireland)
45 Commando RM Since October 2006 Operation Herrick 5 (Afghanistan) (28 months) November 2003-May 2004 Operation Banner (Northern Ireland) (5 months) January-May 2003 Operation Telic 1 (Iraq)

In addition:(1) Two companies from 40 Commando were operationally deployed in 2006, one to Op Herrick March 2006 to Aug 2006, and one to Op Telic April 2006 to August 2006.(2) One company from 42 Commando was operationally deployed on Op Herrick from February to April 2006.(3) 42 Commando was the lead commando group from June 2005 to June 2006, and 40 Commando has been the lead commando group since June 2006. This group, although not deployed on operations, is held at very high readiness with a liability for global deployment at short notice.Deployments undertaken by 28 Regiment Royal Engineers are normally conducted at sub-unit level and below, and vary in duration and composition of personnel involved. Further, elements of the regiment can be deployed to more than one operational theatre at any one time.The last three operational deployments conducted by elements of the regimentare:

Operational deployments
1 2 3
28 Regiment Royal Engineers Since September 2006 Operation Herrick (Afghanistan) May 2006-November 2006 Operation Herrick, and Operation Telic (Afghanistan and Iraq) March 2005-September 2005 Operation Banner (Northern Ireland)

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
451 c1447-8W; 98548
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Army Deployment
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk