Armed Forces Day has been officially launched in Iraq, with a joint raising of the flag especially designed to mark the occasion.

Image by Dylan Browne RAF
Left to Right: Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Alastair Ley, Army Corporal Candice Hall, Sergeant Rob Jackson from the RAF and Ministry of Defence civil servant Kate Yardley.

With just over a week to go before the first Armed Forces Day on 27 June, soldiers, sailors and airmen still serving in Iraq made sure their efforts would also be celebrated on the newly inaugurated day to celebrate the British Armed Forces – past, present and future.

The Armed Forces Day flag was raised in the Contingency Operation Base (COB) near Basra’s International Airport by Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Alastair Ley, Sergeant Rob Jackson from the RAF, Army Corporal Candice Hall and Ministry of Defence civil servant Kate Yardley.

Around 60 personnel – Army, Navy, Air Force and MOD civilians – are still in Iraq as part of the larger Joint Force Logistic Component which is responsible for returning all the kit and vehicles from the area in good order, now that UK combat operations are finished in Iraq

So far, around 5000 containers and more than 1000 vehicles – from quad bikes to Challenger Two main battle tanks – have been returned to the UK so that they can be refurbished and then either redistributed or put on the shelf ready for use again as soon as possible.