Territorial Army on call
5000 British reserves mobilised for operations in Iraq





By Lt Simone Heyer

British Army reserve members had been used to make up force numbers for Op Telic, British Chief of General Staff Gen Sir Mike Jackson said.

“For the first time that I can remember, we compulsorily mobilised a significant number of about 5000 people to get the initial force off the ground,” he said during his interview with Army.

“At the beginning of Op Telic, reserves were used quite heavily.

“During rotation since then, we’ve also used reserves, but not in that same number.”

There are always problems associated with calling reserves of that number into action, but Gen Jackson said difficulties were minimal.

“There were some administrative problems at first, but we’ve got the wrinkles ironed out now.”

“Employers were surprisingly supportive, with fewer appeals than we thought there would be.

“Well-oiled machinery runs smoothly, that said we’ve now mobilised over 10,000 out of a possible 30,000 [reserve forces] we could hope to raise.”

Gen Jackson said that laws are in place regarding the mobilisation of the Territorial Army.

“The law allows us to mobilise a person once in three years.”

“This depends on urgency. Once in three years, we think, is too often.

“Our use of the Territorial Army should be done in good judgement,” he said.

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