§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what restrictions apply to the renewed call-up of a reservist who has completed a six-month operational deployment; and what time must elapse before he or she can be called up again. [150863]
§ Mr. CaplinThe Reserve Forces Act 1996 (RFA 96) sets specific limits for mobilised Service under different call-out orders. Under a section 52 call-out order (national danger, great emergency or attack on the UK), reservists may serve for a total of three years in five; under section 54 (warlike operations), reservists may serve for a total of one year in three; and under section 56 (essentially peacekeeping and disaster relief), reservists may serve for a total of nine months in 27.
Once mobilised, and subject to the needs of the Services and their Commanding Officer's approval, it is possible for a reservist to volunteer to extend their 505W mobilised Service beyond the limits set by RFA 96; usually for six months at a time. However, there are normally theatre specific limits to the period a reservist can serve. This is to ensure that no one serves too long in an operational environment.
Once demobilised, it is possible to call-out a reservist immediately, provided he has enough mobilised service available. However, in general we would not do so unless there were overriding operational reasons.