MP wants extended eligibility for Jubilee Medal
December 19, 2011 2:01 PM
Colchester MP Bob Russell has told the House of Commons that some of the soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade who have been deployed to Afghanistan will miss out on the Jubilee Medal to commemorate The Queen's Diamond Jubilee because they have not been in the Army for five years which is the minimum to qualify for the Medal.
During Defence Questions he told the Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, that this time last year soldiers from Colchester Garrison were deployed to Helmand Province and some of them had also served there in 2008. He added that it was likely that some of them would be back in Afghanistan before the UK officially withdraws combat forces in 2014.
Mr Russell said that many of the brave young soldiers had not joined the Army prior to February 2007 and thus would not qualify for the Medal
because they had not served for five years even though they had been on active service in Afghanistan, in some cases on two deployments.
Mr Hammond responded by saying that the qualification for the Medal was five years, to which Mr Russell said afterwards that he would press for a
variation in the general five-year rule to allow it to be awarded to those who had served for less than five years but had served in Afghanistan.
Liberal Democrat Mr Russell is a member of the Defence Select Committee and has visited Helmand Province three times.
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