Major Patricia McParlin, Royal Logistic Corps, with a British Army SA80 assault rifle at Basra Contingency Operating Base (COB)
[Picture: British Army]
Major Patricia McParlin has been in the Territorial Army for 24 years. She started her military career relatively late, enrolling as a soldier at the age of 29 and receiving her commission as an officer at 35. She was one of the oldest to go through officer training at Sandhurst. Despite her lengthy career as a reservist, this stint in Basra is her first operational tour.
Her normal Territorial Army duties entail working as a staff officer at HQ 2 Logistic Support Group, Royal Logistic Corps, based in Grantham in Lincolnshire.
She actually lives in Lancashire where she is a senior manager at Lancashire Early Years, overseeing a team of specialists who support young children with special educational needs.
Despite the age gap with many of her comrades, former teacher Major McParlin is revelling in the experience of her first time on ops:
"I have always been willing to be mobilised but this is the first opportunity that I have had," she explained. "I think I can say that at 53 I am the oldest woman in theatre, although I like to think I am young in spirit.
"My job is to give guidance to units and branches on reservist issues in theatre as the personnel are on different terms and conditions of service to their regular counterparts. They have stepped out of their civilian lives to support the regular Services by joining formed units or taking up posts as individual augmentees for a year or sometimes two.
"The issues facing reservists are varied but, as a fellow reservist myself, I have an understanding of the challenges and try to advise people and units to find workable solutions. The sorts of situations that might arise are soldiers having difficulty with civilian employers, or issues of pensions, pay or promotion. I also deal with soldiers who want to enlist into the regular Army."
Major McParlin also fulfils a number of additional duties in Basra, one of the most unusual being acting as co-ordinator for the entertainment in theatre:
"Escorting a troupe of dancers and comedians around the garrison for a week in October was very surreal but lots of fun," she said. "In fact, surreal is a word I would use to describe quite a few experiences out here – like living in a tin cabin and sleeping under my duvet from home in a bed that is surrounded by reinforced metal, bricks and sandbags. Or watching 'The X Factor' via the British Forces Broadcasting Service in the same conditions!"
Although Major McParlin misses her four-year-old grandson Liam, the difficulties of Service life come as no surprise to her family. Her daughter Claire and son-in-law Dan are in the Army too.
In fact Major McParlin has requested leave over Christmas so she can look after her grandson while his father is serving on operations and his mother is on duty in the UK:
"My son-in-law has recently been deployed to Cyprus and my daughter has discovered that she has duties over the Christmas period working as a corporal for the Adjutant's General Corps Staff and Personnel Support Branch, so I need to get home and do my duty as a grandma and support my daughter," she explained.
"The only thing I really miss is contact with my family and friends. My mum is registered blind and unable to read my letters, so I call her on my free welfare minutes each week. I keep in touch with my daughter, grandson, son-in-law, sisters and friends though a combination of e-blueys, emails and telephone calls. But of course, I do look forward to seeing everyone in person again."