16.1 | The welfare of Service Personnel

• mail;

• welfare telephones;

• newspapers;

• radio broadcasting;

• limited internet access; and

• basic shop facilities.

46. By July, the OWP was being extended to provide additional internet access, fitness

equipment, TV broadcasting and free books.

47. Lt Gen Palmer told the Inquiry that, over time, the MOD delivered a “very

good” OWP.36

48. Lieutenant General Sir Alistair Irwin, the Adjutant General from 2003 to 2005,

added that a key factor in delivering the OWP was managing and meeting increasing

expectations.37

49. The Inquiry heard mixed reports on the OWP from families and veterans of

Op TELIC. Limited access to telephones early in the campaign and the fragility of the

air bridge between Iraq and the UK were particular sources of frustration.

50. The Inquiry put those concerns to Mr Ingram.38 On the issue of limited access

to telephones, he told the Inquiry:

“… at the beginning of a war phase, and shortly after it, it is very hard to deliver

full communication and infrastructure. Indeed, even the military infrastructure,

ie in terms of operational demand, was pretty fragile as well.

“So you couldn’t honour the commitment in terms of the amount of time that each

soldier … would have to phone back to their family, but as the lay-down became

more established, and investment could then be made in communications, and when

we had the communications infrastructure, we could then improve the availability

and the time …”

51. In January 2004, in response to concerns over the increasing threat to Air Transport

(AT), the Chiefs of Staff agreed that only aircraft fitted with a Defensive Aids Suite

(DAS)39 should fly into Basra.40

36 Public hearing, 21 July 2010, page 12.

37 Public hearing, 21 July 2010, pages 13-14.

38 Public hearing, 16 July 2010, pages 21-22.

39 A Defensive Aids Suite (DAS) is a military aircraft system which acts to defend the aircraft from attack.

A DAS typically comprises chaff, flares, and electronic countermeasures combined with equipment to

detect threats.

40 Minutes, 28 January 2004, Chiefs of Staff meeting.

11