My 3 months in Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre
Sgt David Chilinda AGC ( SPS )
When I joined the ARRC G7 team I expected to deploy overseas and play an active role in the multi-national headquarters on exercise . I did not , however , expect to undergo a temporary move to our Imjin Barracks neighbours , JCCC ( Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre ) who work in Innsworth House , metres away from ARRC ’ s front door .
JCCC were going through a period of workforce turbulence and needed short-term assistance to allow all their teams to continue to support the UK military . I had the privilege of being selected in an Armed Forces wide trawl to join their organisation between May and August 2023 .
In order to understand exactly what I had been selected for , I met with the Officer in Charge , Mr Steve Brown , who explained over a coffee what I should expect for the next 3-months . Always helpful , he quickly put my concerns at ease and prepared for me a unique experience that rarely is offered to personnel in uniform .
Many will have heard of JCCC and have a rough understanding of what role they play in supporting the Armed Forces . But in truth there is a lot more that they do which I was not aware of . Only by spending time as a temporary member of staff in the organisation , can I now say that I fully comprehend all the varied tasks they carry out that make a huge difference to individuals and families . This was a real revelation for me and listed below are my personal insight on the various teams that make up JCCC .
JCCC Operations Room
I was privileged to have spent a month supporting this element of the JCCC which runs around the clock . This is what I thought JCCC did to support those on the front line , but I did not fully understand until I saw it first-hand all the other assistance they provide , either in taking immediate action to get
someone back from an overseas deployment or managing the difficult job of informing a family their loved one has been a casualty . Many of the tasks they perform go unnoticed , except for the people at the heart of the issue . I was also surprised how complex and difficult one case can be , which is on top of being extremely sensitive in the first place .
Deceased Estates
This small team is responsible for all the post-death administrative activity for the estate of deceased military personnel . If ever you become a Visiting Officer in the future , the chances are you will have these experts to guide you through the all the tasks that need to be done once someone in the military had died . Calling for Wills , managing where personal effects go , advising on funerals and monies going into an estate is an everyday activity for them . I was surprised how many legal terms I picked up from listening to Mrs Linda Blackwell , who was my temporary head of section in JCCC .
Graves
The temporarily enhanced JCCC Graves Team : Lt Ben Cunningham RN , Mrs Gina Taylor , Mrs Mandy Drummond , Sgt David Chilinda
This is the team where I spent most of my time . I only ever thought about headstones on battlefield tours , but now I know much more . This small team of only two people , Mrs Mandy Drummond and Mrs Gina Taylor , order all military headstones for those who die in the Armed Forces and run the routine maintenance for all memorials and arrange replacement headstones all around the world . I feel extremely fortunate to have learnt from the two ladies ’ who have an incredible wealth of knowledge on this specialist subject built up over many years . I never thought I would play an active part in trying to manage the wishes of bereaved families regarding memorials when I came to Imjin barracks , but this exactly what I did over the summer . The demand placed on Mandy and Gina , who are both part-time was significant enough for the JCCC to also ask for assistance from the Royal Navy , who offered Lt Ben Cunningham to be a JCCC Support Officer until he returns to the submarine world next year . The photo below is the enhanced summer team with examples of the military memorials that are fixed in cemeteries around the world .
Commemorations
The final JCCC team , who I also shared an office with was the JCCC Commemorations team . Members of the public may know this team as the ‘ War Detectives ’, after appearing on ITV Long Lost Families . This title helps them convince families that there is a small team in the Ministry of Defence who try to identify World War One and Two casualties and give them a military funeral . I would have enjoyed deploying with this team to mainland Europe to conduct a commemorative event , but unfortunately the timing was against me .
Now that my time in JCCC has ended , I feel incredibly grateful for the rare opportunity given to me . The summer months were not what I had expected but I learned a great deal and feel a true sense of achievement in answering the call for help from another Imjin Barracks organisation .
the imjin WINTER 2023
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