Joint Capability
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
4-F-35, Main Building
Whitehall, London SW1A 2HB
Telephone: 0207 218 9000
M.
Sykes
Ref:
PF
-
08-09-2010-104506-006
Sykes
c/o whatdotheyknow.com
Date:
20
September
2010
Dear Ms Sykes,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST – CASE No PF – 08-09-2010-104506-006
Thank you for your e-mail to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) dated 7 September 2010, which
was considered to be a request for information in accordance with the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 / Environmental Regulations 2004. Your request in full read:
Thank you for the information that 60 uniformed Pashto linguists and 30 Dari linguists were
serving in Afghanistan. As a corollary, please advise the ranks and Service, RN, RAF, Army,
of:
1.
The Pashto linguists
2.
The Dari linguists
I can confirm that MOD holds the information you have requested, some of which you will find
contained in the table below.
Substantive Rank
Dari
Pashtu
Junior Officer
10
10
Senior Officer
~
0
Junior Rank
~
20
Junior NCO
10
20
Senior NCO/WO
10
10
Grand Total
30
60
These military personnel are linguists trained to higher levels of language proficiency and are
drawn from across the Services, RN/RM, Army and RAF. As the numbers are low in relative
terms, further breakdown of the numbers provided in the table above by Service would
potentially allow identification of individuals. Due to this, such operationally sensitive
information is likely to be exempt from disclosure under FOI Section 24 (National Security)
that refers to information which is exempt in order to safeguard national security; Section 26
(Defence) which provides that information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely
to prejudice the defence of the British Islands or of any colony, and the capability,
effectiveness or security of any relevant forces; and Section 38 (Health and Safety) which
provides that information is exempt if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, endanger the
physical or mental health or any individual or endanger the safety of any individual. A copy of
the FOI Act can be found at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts2000/ukpga 20000036 en 1
1
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 (the Act). Unless specifically permitted by the Act, any reproduction of the
information, in whole or in part, requires the permission of the copyright holder. Most
documents supplied by the Ministry of Defence will have been produced by government
officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using
Crown Copyright from the Office of Public Sector Information at:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/click-
use/index.htm. Information you receive may also include third party owned information. Such
information must not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without first obtaining the permission
of any such third party rights holder.
If you are unhappy with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the
handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal
resolution is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent
internal review by contacting the Head of Corporate Information, 2nd Floor, MOD Main
Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail [email address]). Please note that any request for
an internal review must be made within 40 working days of the date on which the attempt to
reach informal resolution has come to an end.
If you are still unhappy following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the
Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of
Information Act. Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate your case
until the MOD internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and
powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's website,
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed on original)
C M ADAMSON
JtCap-JW7
2
Document Outline
