§ Mr. MartlewTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to send a TA infantry platoon to support the International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan. [73502]
§ Dr. MoonieWe plan to deploy a composite Territorial Army infantry platoon to Kabul in order to provide a protection platoon to the United Kingdom component to the International Security and Assistance Force. The platoon will comprise members of the Territorial Army who have volunteered to be called out for this task. They will be mobilised at the end of July and deployed for three months from the end of August. The deployment is in line with the policy of making the Territorial Army more usable and integrated with the regular force.