THE SUSTAINER | ARTICLE
#BritishArmyLogistics
Caribbean Adventure Lt Col Lucy Butler reflects on a ten-month deployment as an OF3 (Major) to a British Overseas Territory spanning Operation BROADSHARE and secondment to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. In April 2020, as part of the Standing Joint Force Headquarters (SJFHQ), I deployed on Op BROADSHARE, the UK Government’s immediate response to support British Overseas Territories at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. In August 2020, I redeployed on Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) secondment to the to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) as the National Security Advisor. I worked directly to Her Majesty’s Governor and she was given one clear objective; enhance the territory’s national security. Utilising experience gained from operational deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and various planning roles, I set about understanding three issues contained with the TCI National Security Strategy: Serious Violent Crime, Disaster Management and Cyber Security. Concurrently, I undertook two specific tasks linked to forensic capability, namely on-island analysis capacity and the status of the Coronial System. I knew I needed to conduct an estimate to really breakdown the lines of effort I’d been asked to progress. The first step was to consolidate understanding brought forward from Op BROADSHARE and quickly develop knowledge of the issues I was initially unfamiliar with. With autonomy and access to stakeholders and influencers, I was able to quickly establish a baseline understanding of these key security issues, routinely briefing the territory’s National Security Council, Criminal Justice Stakeholders Group and FCDO desk officers. With the 22
help of the Scottish Violent Crime Reduction Unit, I was able to co-ordinate a ‘Building Safer Communities’ workshop, attended by the Hon Premier and 30 national figures, by the end of October – this directly led to a strategy paper, containing long-term objectives and immediate actions, endorsed by interlocuters, address escalating serious violent crime within the islands. In the months that followed, the contract with US based forensic analysis providers was revised, the first Coroner’s Inquest in seven years was convened and the
8 The secondment did allow time for some adventure sport
8 Supporting TCI was a once in a lifetime opportunity
Home Office undertook a national cyber security assessment of Government departments and critical national infrastructure. December heralded the start of one last ‘task’. Just before Christmas, a COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force was established. I was appointed as its Director of Logistics. Preparing for the safe receipt, storage and onward distribution of a precious and challenging commodity became the ‘Main Effort’. The first batch of Pfizer vaccine arrived in the TCI on 7 January 2021 and exceeding all expectations, just over 5,800 people received their second dose by the end of February, coinciding with the arrival of batch two. The opportunity to work with the FCDO and Public Health England to alleviate crisis in an amazing place was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I’m hugely grateful for. I’m super proud to have a played a small part in supporting the TCI and will hold dear the memories and friendships I’ve brought back home. 8 FCDO TCI website: https://www.gov.uk/world/ turks-and-caicos-islands/news
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