§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when and where elements of the Civil Affairs Group have been deployed on operations; and what the number of personnel involved was. [18870]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 28 November 2001]: The Civil Affairs Group was formed initially in 1997. The numbers of Civil Affairs Group personnel deployed on operations, and the locations and dates of those deployments are shown in the table.
Dates Number Regular TA OP Palatine—Bosnia November 1997 to May 1998 14 — 4 November 1997 to May 1998 1,34 4 2 22 — — OP Agricola—Macedonia/Kosovo/Albania February 1999 to June 1999 1l 1 — April 1999 to July 1999 13 — 3 22 — 2 June to July 1999 12 1 1 22 2 — July 1999 to August 1999 12 — 2 22 — 2 July 1999 to October 1999 1,32 — 2 22 — 2 October 1999 to December 1999 1,33 — 3 23 1 2 May 2001 to January 2002 21 — 1 OP Langar—East Timor August 1999 to September 1999 11 1 — September 1999 to December 1999 11 1 — OP Pallister/Silkman—Sierra Leone April 1999 to June 1999 12 2 — November 2000 to February 2001 11 1 — January 2001 to June 2001 11 — 1 21 1 — February 2001 to May 2001 11 1 — June 2001 to October 2001 22 2 — September 2001 to January 2002 12 — 2 1 Officers 2 Other ranks (ORs) 3 Denote that the numbers include personnel not on the Civil Affairs Group establishment but who were trained by the Group and deployed with them to undertake Civil Affairs and Civil/Military Co-operation tasks.
§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to deploy elements of the Civil Affairs Group to Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [18871]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 28 November 2001]: The situation in Afghanistan continues to be fluid and our forces remain well balanced to respond to events as they unfold. A core force package, including a detachment from the Civil Affairs Group, is maintained at very high readiness to deploy if required. Personnel from the Civil Affairs Group are already involved in planning and liaison tasks outside Afghanistan.