At the root of the problem is the fact that soldiers in the Royal Gibraltar Regiment serve under different terms and conditions to their UK counterparts, even though they are classed as one of Her Majesty’s regiments. When they are at home or operating together as a unit, Gibraltar soldiers receive different – generally lower – pay than UK soldiers, and are covered by an older compensation scheme in the event of injury.

But when they volunteer to serve in war zones as part of a UK regiment, Gibraltar soldiers are put on equal terms for the length of their deployment. Until six months ago, everyone had assumed that included access to the new, updated Armed Forces Compensation Scheme which now covers the British military, and not the old version that still applies to Gibraltar. But late last year, for reasons that remain unclear, the MoD questioned whether the assumption was correct and, if so, what impact it might have on the regiment’s general terms and conditions of service.

The soldiers, apparently, had always been insured, but suddenly it was not clear by which scheme. Rather than risk having to deal with a wounded local soldier while the issue remained unresolved, the MoD decided to stop all Gibraltar deployments to Afghanistan, where the risks of injury are clearly higher.

“The Royal Gibraltar Regiment is covered by a compensation scheme the whole time, of that I’m absolutely clear,” said Commodore Adrian Bell, Commander British Forces in Gibraltar, in an interview yesterday to mark the Ceremony of the Keys. But “what you don’t want to find is that you have two soldiers in one trench with two different compensation schemes.” “That’s invidious.” The key difference between the two schemes is “immediacy”, he said.

Under the old scheme that applies to Gibraltar’s regiment, a soldier has to be medically discharged before he can access compensation in the form of an enhanced pension. Under the new UK scheme in place since 2005, injured soldiers are given a cash payment and do not necessarily have to be discharged in order to obtain that benefit.

Gibraltar’s soldiers are highly respected by their UK counterparts and have served with distinction both in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although the regiment is small, its men have served at all operational levels in Britain’s conflicts, including senior posts. Local soldiers volunteer on an individual basis to fight abroad, but active service is seen as a vital step toward promotion and career progression.

So far the ban on deployments to Afghanistan has not affected the regiment, which has had a busy calendar this year. The RGR has been engaged in numerous ceremonial duties to mark its 70th anniversary and in regular training deployments, including the forthcoming Jebel Sahara exercise in Morocco.

With the review of the ban now being looked at in a wider context of the regiment’s terms and conditions of service there’s no chance of it being overturned any time soon…if ever. At a time when boots on the ground count, some very willing and able boots are being kept back in barracks.