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| RAF personnel assigned to US unit carrying out drone strikes against Isis | |
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| Questions over British military being embedded with US forces have been raised in a joint US-UK defence memo, which provides details of RAF crew assigned to an American unit conducting controversial drone strikes. | Questions over British military being embedded with US forces have been raised in a joint US-UK defence memo, which provides details of RAF crew assigned to an American unit conducting controversial drone strikes. |
| The memo covers RAF attachments to the US Air Force’s (USAF) 432nd unit based at Creech, in the Nevada desert, one of the main hubs for drone strikes against Isis as well as targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. | The memo covers RAF attachments to the US Air Force’s (USAF) 432nd unit based at Creech, in the Nevada desert, one of the main hubs for drone strikes against Isis as well as targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. |
| Evidence of UK involvement in strikes in Pakistan or Yemen could open up British military personnel to legal challenges. | Evidence of UK involvement in strikes in Pakistan or Yemen could open up British military personnel to legal challenges. |
| The legal charity Reprieve, which obtained the memo of understanding between the US and British defence departments under a freedom of information request, called for ministers to come clean about the UK’s role in the drone programme. | The legal charity Reprieve, which obtained the memo of understanding between the US and British defence departments under a freedom of information request, called for ministers to come clean about the UK’s role in the drone programme. |
| The Ministry of Defence, in a letter to Reprieve in November, said “there are currently no RAF personnel embedded within operational USAF combat squadrons”. | The Ministry of Defence, in a letter to Reprieve in November, said “there are currently no RAF personnel embedded within operational USAF combat squadrons”. |
| But the memo of understanding signed in 2008 covers the embedding of RAF crew at Creech. The US has been desperately short of crew to meet the expansion in drone operations and has looked to the RAF to help fill gaps. | But the memo of understanding signed in 2008 covers the embedding of RAF crew at Creech. The US has been desperately short of crew to meet the expansion in drone operations and has looked to the RAF to help fill gaps. |
| There are an estimated 4,000 personnel in total based at Creech, about 500 of them pilots and about 500 sensor operators. | There are an estimated 4,000 personnel in total based at Creech, about 500 of them pilots and about 500 sensor operators. |
| Related: Drone warfare: life on the new frontline | Chris Woods | Related: Drone warfare: life on the new frontline | Chris Woods |
| The memo says: “The total of UK personnel eligible to fill positions within the 432nd wing will be 66.” The memo covers a vacancy for a pilot to fly a Predator drone and for seven sensor operators, who engage in surveillance and identifying potential targets, and for 14 pilots for Reaper drones and 14 sensor operators. The postings were for up to three years. | The memo says: “The total of UK personnel eligible to fill positions within the 432nd wing will be 66.” The memo covers a vacancy for a pilot to fly a Predator drone and for seven sensor operators, who engage in surveillance and identifying potential targets, and for 14 pilots for Reaper drones and 14 sensor operators. The postings were for up to three years. |
| The memo describes the duties of an RAF pilot with the 432nd as: conducts “worldwide operations” that include reconnaissance and “determines viable targets and strikes those targets in conjunction with the combined air operations centre rules of engagement but always adhering to the legal framework for the operation in question”. | The memo describes the duties of an RAF pilot with the 432nd as: conducts “worldwide operations” that include reconnaissance and “determines viable targets and strikes those targets in conjunction with the combined air operations centre rules of engagement but always adhering to the legal framework for the operation in question”. |
| The assigned personnel are described as “a gift of services to fulfil US Air Force operational requirements”. According to the memo, the British Ministry of Defence says it would continue to pay the RAF personnel during their time in the US as well as meeting their expenses. | The assigned personnel are described as “a gift of services to fulfil US Air Force operational requirements”. According to the memo, the British Ministry of Defence says it would continue to pay the RAF personnel during their time in the US as well as meeting their expenses. |
| The RAF crews assigned to the USAF are separate from RAF 39 squadron, which has been based at Creech since 2007 and which also flies UK Reapers from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. | The RAF crews assigned to the USAF are separate from RAF 39 squadron, which has been based at Creech since 2007 and which also flies UK Reapers from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. |
| Defence secretary Michael Fallon was forced on Monday to make a Commons statement after it was revealed that British pilots embedded with US forces were engaged in airstrikes in Syria in defiance of a 2013 parliamentary vote rejecting military intervention. A cross-party group of MPs and peers is also to investigate the practice of embedding, in particular in relation to drones. | Defence secretary Michael Fallon was forced on Monday to make a Commons statement after it was revealed that British pilots embedded with US forces were engaged in airstrikes in Syria in defiance of a 2013 parliamentary vote rejecting military intervention. A cross-party group of MPs and peers is also to investigate the practice of embedding, in particular in relation to drones. |
| US drone missions began in Yemen in 2002 and Pakistan in 2004. Barack Obama authorised drone strikes against Syria in September last year. | US drone missions began in Yemen in 2002 and Pakistan in 2004. Barack Obama authorised drone strikes against Syria in September last year. |
| There have been dozens of RAF drone missions over Syria since September but the MoD says these are for reconnaissance, not attacks. | There have been dozens of RAF drone missions over Syria since September but the MoD says these are for reconnaissance, not attacks. |
| Jennifer Gibson, a lawyer at Reprieve, said: “The CIA’s secret drone programme has killed hundreds of civilians in countries such as Yemen and Pakistan, where neither the US nor the UK are at war. It takes place in the shadows and beyond accountability – and so far the British government has claimed it has nothing to do with them. | Jennifer Gibson, a lawyer at Reprieve, said: “The CIA’s secret drone programme has killed hundreds of civilians in countries such as Yemen and Pakistan, where neither the US nor the UK are at war. It takes place in the shadows and beyond accountability – and so far the British government has claimed it has nothing to do with them. |
| “Ministers must come clean to the public on the part the UK has played. And they have a duty to British personnel to ensure they do not embroil them in the CIA’s illegal assassination programme.” | “Ministers must come clean to the public on the part the UK has played. And they have a duty to British personnel to ensure they do not embroil them in the CIA’s illegal assassination programme.” |
| Chris Cole, founder of the campaign group Drone Wars UK, echoed Gibson: “These complex and opaque methods of sharing personnel and equipment between nations come on top of a real erosion in international law norms regarding when and where military force may be used ... it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell which nation is involved in which armed conflict in which part of the globe. | Chris Cole, founder of the campaign group Drone Wars UK, echoed Gibson: “These complex and opaque methods of sharing personnel and equipment between nations come on top of a real erosion in international law norms regarding when and where military force may be used ... it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell which nation is involved in which armed conflict in which part of the globe. |
| “As one of the states to be involved in these ‘creative accounting’ type arrangements with our military forces, the government has an increased duty to be open and transparent with both MPs and the public about how and when our forces and aircraft are being used.” | “As one of the states to be involved in these ‘creative accounting’ type arrangements with our military forces, the government has an increased duty to be open and transparent with both MPs and the public about how and when our forces and aircraft are being used.” |
| The Ministry of Defence has failed to answer the Guardian’s questions about RAF crew assigned to the USAF, in particular whether they were engaged in drone actions against targets in Pakistan and Yemen. | The Ministry of Defence has failed to answer the Guardian’s questions about RAF crew assigned to the USAF, in particular whether they were engaged in drone actions against targets in Pakistan and Yemen. |