16.4 |
Conclusions: Service Personnel
96.
The Inquiry
heard mixed reports about the Operational Welfare Package
(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 – which
reduced the
time
available for rest and recuperation – were particular sources of
frustration.
97.
While these
were undoubtedly real frustrations, the Inquiry considers that
the
MOD
delivered most elements of the OWP as quickly as could reasonably
have been
expected. A
key challenge, recognised by the MOD, was managing and meeting
rising
expectations.
98.
Over 5,000
Reservists were mobilised for Op TELIC 1 (comprising some
12 percent
of total UK
forces). Lt Gen Palmer told the Inquiry that Reservists
“performed
magnificently
during the operation, and we simply could not have done without
them”.15
99.
The MOD’s
policy was that deployed Reservists, and their families, should
receive
the same
welfare support as Regular Service Personnel.
100.
The MOD found
it difficult to provide support to the families of deployed
Reservists.
It was the
responsibility of the unit to which a Reservist was attached to
provide that
support,
but the families of Reservists were often spread across the
country, some
distance
from that unit. A Reservist’s family might have had little or no
previous contact
with the
unit to which the Reservist was attached, and find it difficult to
access the
support
that was available.
101.
The MOD
introduced a number of measures to improve the support provided
to
Reservists
in theatre and in the UK. It also sought to ensure that Reservists
benefited
from new
initiatives, such as decompression, alongside their Regular
colleagues.
15
Public
hearing, 21 July 2010, pages 84-85.
167