16.3 |
Military fatalities and the bereaved
390.
In February
2004, Mr Ingram agreed that, following the end of major
combat
operations
in Iraq, the MOD should “rationalise” the repatriation
process.258
The
MOD
would adopt
three levels of repatriation:
•
for
non‑battle deaths, where repatriation would mirror the pre‑Op TELIC
model;
•
for Service
Personnel killed in action or who had died of their wounds,
where
repatriation
would include a “degree of ceremony” including military
pall‑bearers;
and
•
for
exceptional circumstances where it was appropriate to demonstrate
the
highest
level of respect, where Op KEIR would be used. It would be for
Mr Hoon
to
determine whether to invoke Op KEIR, taking into account factors
including
the
circumstances surrounding the incident.
391.
Lt Gen Palmer
told the Inquiry that the issue of who should attend a
repatriation
ceremony
quickly became “a big issue”:
“Everybody
wanted to be there, to show support.
“I think
what we realised early on was that this was going to be
ongoing.
Unfortunately,
casualties were going to keep coming. We could not have
everybody
rushing to
[RAF] Brize Norton, as it was then, [RAF] Lyneham, as it is now,
every
time there
was a casualty. So we developed, I think, an extremely good policy,
which
I think has
worked very well, about how repatriations are
done.”259
392.
Lt Gen Palmer
added that, in planning and conducting repatriation
ceremonies:
“... with
Ministers and everybody in the MOD the absolute key thing was to
try to be
as
responsive and sensitive to the families as we possibly could at
this enormously
difficult
moment for them.”
393.
In September
2007, a fourth level of repatriation was added, covering
repatriations
in the
event of a mass fatality incident (defined as between 15 and 35
fatalities).260
394.
In April 2009,
the MOD amended its policy so that all deaths on
operations
(including
non‑battle deaths) received a formal repatriation ceremony, in the
light of the
difficulty
in drawing a distinction between an individual killed by direct
enemy fire and
one killed
in an accident in direct support of operations, and given public
and familial
expectations
that individuals who died on operations should be
honoured.261
258
Minute DDSP
Pol O&M to PSO/CDS, 17 March 2004, ‘Policy for Repatriation of
Deceased Personnel
from
Overseas’.
259
Public
hearing, 21 July 2010, page 40.
260
Minute
Fancourt to various, 17 September 2007, ‘Policy for Repatriation of
Deceased Personnel
from
Overseas’.
261
Minute
DCDS(Pers) to APS/SoS [MOD], 22 April 2009, ‘Policy for
Repatriation from Operations’.
143