14.1  |  Military equipment (post-conflict)

1244.  Mr Bob Ainsworth, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces, visited Iraq from

17 to 21 December 2007.655 The visit report stated:

“The Minister saw for himself the effect of Operation Stonehenge – the hardening of

personal bed spaces. This, like C‑RAM, appeared initially to have been greeted with

mixed feelings but was now generally considered to be a positive development, both

in terms of protection and morale.”

1245.  On 15 January 2008, Lt Gen Houghton told the Chiefs of Staff that Project

Stonehenge had “progressed well” and would be complete by February.656 The third

tranche of the Tier 3 hardening project was progressing and 2,100 hardened bunks

would be complete by 2009, although the final decision point on this for Ministers was

20 March 2008.

1246.  On 20 March, Mr Gibson advised Mr Browne to place Tranche 3 of the

hardened accommodation programme on hold because of uncertainty about the UK’s

future presence in Iraq.657 That tranche would have brought 1,500 further hardened

bed spaces, bringing the total to 2,400. He noted that the IDF threat had recently

increased and provided an analysis of the options, finally stating:

“This is a fine call, involving judgements about force levels over a year away.

It represents a significant change in emphasis in our approach to this project: in

essence, rather than continuing with Tier 3 until it is proven no longer to be required,

we would be deciding only to proceed with Tranche 3 once it has been demonstrated

that it was required, and in doing so for the first time accepting that we will not

provide Tier 3 accommodation for all at the COB as quickly as possible.”

1247.  Officials in Mr Browne’s Private Office replied on 27 March.658 Following

discussion with ACM Stirrup and Sir Bill Jeffrey, Mr Browne had noted:

• The ongoing work on future options for the UK’s long‑term presence in southern

Iraq was unlikely to conclude before the summer.

• There were options “under consideration” which would render Tranche 3

“unnecessary”.

1248.  Mr Browne agreed that the Tranche 3 programme should be placed on hold until

the likely UK presence in 2009 was clearer.

655  Minute PS/Minister(AF) to APS 4/Secretary of State, 10 January 2008, ‘Minister(AF)’s Visit to Iraq,

17‑21 December’.

656  Minutes, 15 January 2008, Chiefs of Staff meeting.

657  Minute Gibson to PS/SofS [MOD], 20 March 2008, ‘Tier 3 – Update Submission’.

658  Minute APS/Secretary of State [MOD] to Gibson, 27 March 2008, ‘Tier 3 – Update Submission’.

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