§ Mr. FlookTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the last three operational deployments were and what the length between each has been for(a) 40 Commando, (b) 42 Commando, (c) 45 Commando and (d) Head Quarters, Royal Marines. [189402]
§ Mr. IngramThe last three operational deployments of the Royal Marine units specified are:
40 Commando
A single company was deployed to Afghanistan from November 2001 to November 200, followed by a gap of one month before the whole unit was deployed to Operation Telic (Iraq) from January 2003 to April 2003. 1884W A further gap of 14 months ensued before redeployment of the whole unit to Operation Telic in July 2004.
42 Commando
The whole unit was deployed to Operation Silkman (Sierra Leone) from September 2001 to November 2001; a subsequent gap of three months was followed by deployment of the whole unit to Operation Banner (Northern Ireland) for the period March 2002 to September 2002, thence a gap of four months before it deployed to Operation Telic from February 2003 to May 2003.
45 Commando
The whole unit was deployed to Operation Jacana (Afghanistan) for the period April 2002 to July 2002. A gap of six months ensued before the bulk of the unit was deployed to Operation Telic for the period February 2003 to May 2003. A subsequent gap of six months was followed by deployment of the whole unit to Operation Banner from December 2003 to June 2004.
Headquarters Royal Marines
Headquarters Royal Marines was disestablished as a result of the Fleet FIRST reorganisation in 2002. However, it was not a deployable headquarters. HQ 3 Commando Brigade however, deployed to Operation Agricola (Kosovo) from August 2000 to February 2001, with a gap of 12 months before deployment to Operation Jacana from March 2002 to July 2002. A further gap of five months was followed by deployment to Operation Telic from January 2003 to May 2003.
The dates given represent when the main bulk of the unit was deployed, because the deployment to, and recovery from an operation, are protracted and multi-phased.