'You're either very stupid or very brave': Iraq veterans remember Op Telic

From invasion, through stabilisation and counter-insurgency to training Iraqi forces, more than 135,000 British servicemen and women took part in Operation Telic from 2003 to 2011. 

Among them, 179 lost their lives, and their service and sacrifice is commemorated by the Basra Memorial Wall at the National Memorial Arboretum. 

To mark 15 years since the last British troops left Iraq, BFBS Sitrep gathered three veterans to discuss their time on Telic and the legacy of the Iraq war today.

• Geoff Hoon: No regrets over decision to invade Iraq, blames misleading intelligence on WMD
• Military planners behind Iraq invasion warn operation could not be repeated today
• IEDs, IFVs and ISIS: The ways the Iraq war has changed the modern battlefield

In this special edition of the podcast, filmed before the Basra memorial at the NMA, James Wharton, Duane Gardner, and Kevin Robinson reflect on the astonishing feat of preparing 32,000 soldiers in just 10 weeks – half the time the UK had to prepare for the first Gulf War – and consider field medical innovations that can be directly traced back to the darkest days of the Iraq war.

They also pay tribute to the troops that never came home, and discuss how the conflict is remembered compared to the likes of Afghanistan. You can watch the full episode above.