15.1 | Civilian
personnel
of support
and appreciation to secondees, and feeding stories to local
newspapers
and radio
stations (as our military colleagues often do so well)
…
“We should
also ensure that the experience gained by secondees in Iraq is
valued
properly,
and reflected in their appraisals and future career development
…”
707.
In July 2004,
after the disbanding of the CPA, the Treasury held a seminar to
learn
lessons
from the UK’s contribution to the rehabilitation of Iraq’s economic
and financial
administration
during the CPA period.462
Treasury
and Bank of England secondees
to the CPA
spoke at the seminar, which was attended by Mr Brown,
Mr Boateng,
Sir Michael Jay
and Mr O’Donnell.
708.
After the
seminar, Mr O’Donnell saw the secondees to the CPA “to talk
about their
time there
and the lessons we can have”.
709.
Several
participants at the Inquiry’s civilian outreach event said that the
Inquiry’s
event was
the first time they had been asked to talk about their experiences.
Most
of those
who had served in Iraq during the CPA period felt let down. They
felt that
departments
had not tried to make use of the knowledge they had acquired or
to
bring them
into strategy discussions. Most of the participants had not had a
post‑tour
debriefing.
There was a feeling at the civilian outreach event that the
Whitehall approach
to human
resources, leaving individuals to look after themselves, was not
appropriate for
this sort
of expeditionary civilian deployment.
710.
After a visit
to Iraq in April 2005, Mr Hatfield reported that the MOD
needed:
“… to make
more active use of operational veterans to sell the prospect of
a
deployed
tour to potential volunteers – their enthusiasm is catching and
they are well
placed to
supply answers about both the real and imaginary concerns people
may
have about
what is involved.” 463
711.
Mr Hatfield
also reported that:
“The
Ambassador [Mr Chaplin] was … interested in our arrangements
for debriefing
– which at
present it seems the FCO do not do. I suspect that we need to be a
bit
more
systematic here, too. Debriefing is therapeutic as well as
potentially informative
– and may
also help to identify any individuals with aftercare
needs.”
712.
The FCO, the
MOD and DFID provided different pre‑deployment training for
staff
posted to
Iraq.
462
Paper Radio
Technical Services, 19 July 2004, ‘Transcript of Treasury Seminar
Held in London
on Monday,
19 July 2004’.
463
Minute
Hatfield to Loudon, 25 April 2005, ‘Visit to Iraq’.
365