14.1 |
Military equipment (post-conflict)
1234.
Mr James
Quinault, Head of the Defence, Diplomacy and Intelligence
spending
team in the
Treasury, advised Mr Burnham to “hold off” replying until
September,
pending
decisions about the scale and duration of the UK’s commitment in
Basra.647
1235.
Mr Burnham
replied on 11 September 2007.648
He recognised
that the case for
hardening
accommodation was “compelling” if UK troops were to remain at Basra
Air
Station for
a prolonged period, but that “the scale of additional resources
committed
to the
project” should be agreed once there was greater clarity on the
UK’s posture in
Basra,
expected at the end of that month. He concluded:
“It is
clearly desirable that you continue to take the decisions necessary
to ensure
that
suitable accommodation can be provided as soon as possible should
UK troops
remain in
theatre for the foreseeable future. I understand that you are
currently
taking such
decisions at risk of around £10m to your own budget. I think this
is
prudent and
you should be reassured that, in the event of a decision for an
early
withdrawal,
these sunk costs will be admissible against the
Reserve.”
On 5
October 2007, a PJHQ official sought Mr Browne’s agreement for
the UK to establish
a logistic
support facility in Kuwait.649
It would
include the relocation of JHF‑I. The minute
stated:
“The
proximity of Camp Buehring to Basra (around 30 minutes flying time)
allows
us to
de‑risk the force protection of our helicopters without affecting
their ability to
undertake
their operational tasking. A forward helicopter detachment will
however
remain in
the COB as the Incident Response Team (IRT).”
Mr Browne
agreed on 9 October.650
1236.
On 2 October,
Major General James Dutton, DCJO(Ops), briefed the Chiefs
of
Staff that
the Tier 1 and Tier 2 builds at Basra Air Station were complete and
the full Tier
3 programme
would be finished in December 2009.651
The
“Enhanced Personal Bunkers
project, an
intermediate Tier1/2 solution” had commenced on 17 September and
was
known as
Stonehenge.
1237.
On 7 December,
Mr Ian Gibson, Deputy Command Secretary at PJHQ,
recommended
that Mr Browne write to Mr Burnham requesting a further
£65m from
647
Minute
Quinault to Burnham, 21 August 2007, ‘Hardened Accommodation for UK
Troops in Basra’.
648
Letter
Burnham to Browne, 11 September 2007, ‘Hardened Accommodation in
Basra’.
649
Minute PJHQ
[junior official] to PS/Secretary of State [MOD], 5 October 2007,
‘Op TELIC: Logistic
Support
Facility in Kuwait’.
650
Minute
APS/Secretary of State [MOD] to PJHQ J9 Hd Pol/Ops 1, 9 October
2007, ‘Op TELIC: Logistics
Support
Facility in Kuwait’.
651
Minutes, 2
October 2007, Chiefs of Staff meeting.
209