The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
•
members of
the Regular Reserve, who are ex-members of the Regular
Forces
who still
have a liability for mobilisation.64
85.
The VRF
comprises the Royal Naval Reserve, the Territorial Army (TA),
the
Royal Marines
Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
86.
In 2003, there
were approximately 40,000 members of the VRF, of whom
35,000
87.
The Reserve
Forces have three primary roles:
•
to augment
Regular Forces for enduring operations;
•
to provide
additional capability for large scale operations; and
•
to provide
specialist capability.
88.
Lieutenant
General Mark Mans, the Deputy Adjutant General from 2005 to
2008,
told the
Inquiry that for Op TELIC, as for other operations, Reservists
were:
“… more
often than not mobilised as individuals to support regular Army
units.
Sometimes
they were mobilised in teams of 10 to 20, but that was quite
unusual.”66
89.
Lt Gen Mans
described the welfare support provided to members of the
TA:
“As far as
the support to the Territorial Army, when they were mobilised, they
got
exactly the
same as the Regulars. So there was no distinction whatsoever. As
far
as support
to their families, the same applied, but of course, it is more
difficult,
because the
families of Territorial [Army] soldiers are spread far and wide
…
“… when
they are mobilised, the [Territorial Army] soldiers do support a
Regular
unit of one
form or another and, therefore, it is incumbent upon that Regular
unit,
and
particularly the rear party back at the home base, to make sure
that those
individuals
within the TA, and their families, are appropriately looked after
in terms
of
maintaining contact, and also making sure they are aware of all the
support and
sustenance
they can achieve.”67
90.
Lt Gen Mans
added that once a member of the TA was demobilised,
responsibility
for their
welfare reverted to their TA unit.
91.
The MOD told
the Inquiry that it had considered providing a separate
“welfare
pathway”
for Reservists, but concluded that it would not aid
integration.68
64
Ministry of
Defence, Future of
the UK’s Reserve Forces, 7
February 2005.
65
National
Audit Office, Ministry of
Defence: Reserve Forces, 31 March
2006.
66
Public
hearing, 19 July 2010, pages 26-27.
67
Public
hearing, 19 July 2010, page 27.
68
Paper MOD,
6 July 2010, ‘Iraq Inquiry Reservist Specific Welfare
Provision’.
18