Written question asked by Liam Fox (Conservative) on Wednesday, 5 March 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 7 March 2008. It was answered by Bob Ainsworth (Labour) on Thursday, 13 March 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2349W, on Iraq peacekeeping operations, what methodology was used to formulate his answer on 7 February 2006, Official Report, column 1084, on Iraq; and why the information requested in the question on Iraq peacekeeping operations is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Answer: Exact figures on how many non-infantry personnel have served in an infantry role in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003 are not held centrally as currently this information is not required for management purposes. The methodology used in the answer on 7 February 2006, Official Report, column 1084W, took the average number of non-infantry sub-units serving in an infantry role per deployment and multiplied this by both the number of deployments and the strength of a typical sub unit; this enabled a rough estimate figure to be provided. Adopting the same approach produces figures of approximately 7,260 and 330 for Iraq and Afghanistan respectively since 2003.It is not unusual for non-infantry personnel to deploy in an infantry role as every soldier in the Army is trained in the infantry role first, and as a specialist second. When such individuals or units do deploy in an infantry role, they will also undertake similar pre-deployment training as their infantry counterparts.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 193161; 473 c664W;473 c661-2W
Session: 2007-08
Related items: Iraq
Tuesday, 7 February 2006
Written questions
House of Commons; Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Iraq Peacekeeping operations
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk