Written question asked by Ann Winterton (Conservative) on Tuesday, 26 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 28 June 2007. It was answered by Bob Ainsworth (Labour) on Wednesday, 4 July 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Territorial Army: Recruitment

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the strength of the various sections of the Territorial Army have seen active deployment, broken down by (a) officers and (b) other ranks.

Answer: The Territorial Army (TA) is the reserve of ““first choice”” and its personnel are currently providing crucial support to the Regular Forces on operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Since January 2003 around 13,000 volunteers from the TA have been mobilised on overseas operations. The ability of the TA to meet its operational requirement is closely monitored. However, there is no requirement to hold or maintain information centrally in the format requested and such data could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Secondary information