In these cases, the Services and MOD have procedures in
place to re-unite Forces personnel overseas with their loved-ones,
for compassionate reasons, using military assets. The system
has been in operation in recent weeks in Afghanistan, where
UK servicemen and women are currently operating alongside
multinational forces from as far afield as the US and Canada,
Romania, Estonia, The Netherlands and Denmark as part of the
International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Squadron Leader Graham Thorne, Operations Officer for the
Hercules detachment currently based at Kandahar airfield in
Afghanistan, explains: "Most people in the British Armed
Forces are aware that we are able to assist in the transportation
of servicemen who need to be compassionately reunited with
close family, but not so many are aware of the lengths that
the military will go to ensure that families are reunited
as swiftly as is possible."
"In the last three weeks for example, we have been directly
involved, to a greater or lesser extent, in the compassionate
return of servicemen on three separate occasions. Their circumstances
were assessed as "Category A" meaning they were
eligible for immediate return home."
The responsibility for co-ordinating the overall arrangements
for compassionate cases rests with the Joint
Casualty and Compassionate Cell (JCCC) at RAF Innsworth
in Gloucester, which immediately notifies theatre when a serviceman
or woman is required to return home.
"All servicemen deployed to theatre are issued a Form
JPA P001 that explains the role of the JCCC to spouses and
next of kin, when it may be used, how it may be contacted
and the details required to ensure a quick response,"
explains Flt Lt Kath Rand, an administrator at Kandahar
airfield.
"In the event of a family crisis where a serviceman
may need to return from theatre early, the family may contact
the JCCC who will categorise the case and immediately notify
the individual's admin support unit in theatre so that he
or she can be notified and arrangements made for their return."
The actions taken by those in the staffing chain are impressively
swift, but a detailed knowledge of air operations in theatre
can also pay dividends as Sqn Ldr Guy Clayton, Officer Commanding
the C130 Hercules detachment at Kandahar, explained:
"We were recently asked to assist with the compassionate
return to Nepal of a soldier from the Ghurka Regiment here
in Afghanistan. Despite the soldier having only been in theatre
for a matter of hours, he was swiftly located and immediately
informed of the circumstances.
"The JCCC had done an excellent job in putting together
a plan for the soldier’s return to Nepal using a combination
of both RAF assets and civilian airlines, but by necessity,
the flight involved routing via the UK. Fortunately, we were
able to use our own aircraft to fly a more direct route to
the final destination. As a result, he was back in Kathmandu
36 hrs ahead of the original schedule. It was a tremendous
team effort by all involved."
The C130 Hercules detachment from RAF
Lyneham is currently operating four aircraft from Kandahar
airfield in the southern region of the country as part of
the UK’s contribution to the NATO effort. All four Lyneham
squadrons (24, 30, 47 and 70 Squadrons) are currently represented,
operating both the C130J and K variant of the aircraft. Despite
high temperatures and a heavy workload, the aircraft are coping
well with the conditions.
Sqn Ldr Clayton added: "The
Hercules has proved itself time and time again in a variety
of theatres and Afghanistan is no exception. Despite difficult
conditions, the aircraft continues to come up with the goods,
allowing us to deliver men and equipment where and when we
need to."
"Whether it’s putting men on the ground or assisting
with compassionate cases, the crews always give 100% effort;
it’s what we’re trained to do and what we will
continue to do as long as we remain in theatre."
Secretary of State for Defence John Reid "Whatever the
difficulties and risks of this deployment, those risks are
nothing compared to the dangers to our country and our people
of allowing Afghanistan to fall back into the hands of the
Taliban and the terrorists."
Britain has built one of its biggest overseas military base
in remote Afghanistan. They've constructed a vast military
base in an inhospitable and barren environment. Surrounded
by opium fields and potentially hostile militias, Camp Bastion
is the biggest military camp to be constructed since the Second
World War. It will be a home for the thousands of troops that
will have the task of imposing order on Afghanistan's lawless
Helmand Province.
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