June 2003 - Iraq

Staff Corps advice was sought by HM Forces for three particular assignments:

Design and Construction of a Ro-Ro facility

Stores, vehicles and equipment for the UK forces sent by sea to Kuwait were directed to a port without a Ro-Ro facility. A Staff Corps contact enabled a floating platform with appropriate ramps to be designed and constructed in Dubai and towed to Kuwait in time to off-load the ships. Op TELIC would have been severely delayed without this platform.

Support on power generation and distribution in Southern Iraq

Staff Corps members arranged for two engineers from National Grid Transco and two engineers from PowerGen (now E.ON) to spend 8 days in the Basra region immediately after the conflict to support the Royal Engineers in enabling start-up of power stations and distribution to provide a service equal to that prior to the start of the conflict.

Battle damage assessment of communications

A Staff Corps member from BT arranged for two technicians to visit Iraq and undertake battle damage assessment of the telecommunications infrastructure. Requests from the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) for further assistance were subsequently received.

The Staff Corps provided other advice on water inundation (thought likely prior to the conflict) and the securing and management of petroleum installations. A planning workshop was facilitated by the Staff Corps in Kuwait prior to the conflict to address commanders' concerns over personal safety, obscuration, approaches, targeting, priorities for clearance and facility shut-down procedures. It was attended by a member of the Staff Corps.

The Staff Corps assisted in obtaining layouts and drawings of facilities in theatre. A request for in theatre expertise in hydrology and utilities was also made but, as yet, it has not been called forward. A banking facility was enabled for the payment of local labour within the port of Um Quasar by another member of the Staff Corps.