16th Air Assault Brigade

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16th Air Assault Brigade
Active 1999-Present
Country Great Britain
Branch British Army
Role Air Assault
Part of 4th Division
Garrison/HQ Colchester Garrison


The 16 Air Assault Brigade (16 Air Asslt Bde) is a unit of the British Army.

It was formed as part of the defence reforms implemented by the Strategic Defence Review on 1 September 1999 by the merging of 24th Airmobile Brigade and elements of 5th Airborne Brigade. This grouping created a highly mobile brigade of parachute units and airmobile units which employ helicopters.

Contents

[edit] Roles

The brigade has a joint Army/RAF HQ based in Colchester Garrison and numbers around 6,000 to 8,000 personnel. It is under the operational command of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) and is assigned to the British-led Allied Rapid Reaction Corps of NATO as Corps Troops. (For administrative purposes, it is under the control of 4th Division when in its base at Colchester). It may be allocated to 1st (UK) Armoured or 3rd (UK) Mechanised divisions for operations outside of Britain. The brigade maintains a pool of its forces which may be allocated to the tri-service Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF).

It is primarily designed to be rapidly deployable across the world, able to deal with situations in peacetime such as national emergencies; relief operations for natural disasters across the world, and evacuation of British subjects and other countries' citizens (as seen in Sierra Leone in 2000 during Operation Palliser). In war the brigade is intended to undertake an array of operations, including taking quickly and holding ground until relieved by other forces, sometimes over great distances if needed; carrying out large-scale raids; assisting in defensive operations, including the defence of units' flanks, and supporting special forces. The brigade demonstrated its ability to carry out these type of operations during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Due to the brigade's mobile role it is lightly armed and equipped. The brigade's land equipment includes Scimitars, WMIK Land Rovers, Supacats, towed L118 105 mm light guns, Javelin anti-tank and lightweight Starstreak air-defence missile launchers. The aviaton element of the brigade consists of three attack regiments equipped with WAH-64 Apache and Lynx helicopters from the Army Air Corps, and Chinook, Merlin and Puma support helicopters from the RAF. The brigade is also supported by the RAF's Hercules transport aircraft fleet.

[edit] Traditions

The numeral 16 was chosen to perpetuate the 16th Parachute Brigade which had itself been numbered in honour of the 1st Airborne Division and 6th Airborne Division of World War II.

The brigade's sign is that of a light-blue and maroon shield with a light blue striking eagle outlined in maroon emblazoned on it, intended to represent its offensive role. The sign is worn on the left arm. The colours chosen are traditional and show the make-up of the brigade, maroon for Airborne and light-blue for Army Air Corps. The symbol of 5 Airborne Brigade had been Bellerophon on top of Pegasus (a winged horse of Greek mythology) which became synonymous with the airborne forces thanks to their exploits during World War II. There was some controversy when the Parachute units of 5 Airborne had to give up the symbol and replace it with 16 Air Assault's symbol.

[edit] History

After a ceasefire had been declared in the Republic of Macedonia between Government forces and rebels known as the National Liberation Army, NATO launched a British-led effort (Operation Essential Harvest) to collect weapons voluntarily given up by the rebels. The brigade HQ and some of its elements deployed in August 2001, acting as the spearhead for the NATO operation. It returned home after the NATO mission was successfully completed in September.

After the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, NATO established a peacekeeping force in December known as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), based in the capital Kabul. The brigade HQ and some of its units began to deploy in December to join the then British-led ISAF (which was centred around 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division) as its tactical command, commanding units from other nations that had sent forces to Afghanistan. The brigade's units main tasks were to help rebuild the war-torn country and carry out patrol into Kabul, in the hope of reasuring the populace there, and nearby Bagram Air Base, both of which were under constant threat from Al Qaida and the Taliban. The brigade handed over tactical command to a German brigade in March 2002.

During the build-up to the invasion of Iraq, the brigade, commanded by Brigadier 'Jacko' Page, was deployed to Kuwait in February 2003. The brigade was part of 1 (UK) Armoured Division and after extensive training in Kuwait it took part in the beginning of the invasion on 20 March. Initial speculation in the British media suggested that the brigade would support the American 82nd and 101st divisions in an airborne assault on the Saddam International Airport in Baghdad. This plan did not, however, come into fruition. The brigade's eventual objective was to secure the southern oil fields before they were destroyed by Saddam Hussain's forces. The brigade's 7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery entered Iraq on 20 March to support U.S. Marine Corps forces in their efforts to capture the Rumaila oil fields, nearly all of the oil wells being taken intact. The rest of the brigade, supported by its AAC helicopters, entered Iraq soon afterwards, still tasked with securing Rumaila. The brigade often met sporadic resistance and had to deal with disarming the many explosives attached to the infrastructure.

The brigade was subsequently used to guard the oil fields and protect Allied supply lines with elements moving further north of Basra -- Iraq's second largest city -- to provide a screen protecting it from Iraqi attack. On 31 March the brigade, assisted by artillery and air supporti, attacked an Iraqi armoured coloumn advancing on Basra, destroying 17 T-55 tanks, 5 artillery pieces and 7 armoured personnel carriers. After British forces entered Basra on 6 April, 3 PARA was employed to clear the 'old quarter' of the city on 7 April due to the narrow streets making it inaccessible to vehicles.

After Basra's capture the brigade was based in Maysan Province, centred around the province's capital Al-Amarah. The brigade carried out patrols into towns, helped bring normality back to the south, tried to maintain order and destroyed any conventional weapons caches that were found. The war was officially declared over on 1 May and the brigade began to return home that same month. During one patrol into Az-Zubayr on 24 June the brigade suffered its largest casualties in Iraq when 6 Royal Military Policemen of 156 Provost Company were killed by a large Iraqi mob. A patrol of 1 PARA were ambushed at the same time but were successfully extracted from the area. By the time the brigade left Iraq it had collectively suffered 9 killed. It was reported that two soldiers from the brigade had refused to fight just before the war began, and were sent back to Colchester Garrison.

In 2006, the brigade deployed with one battlegroup to Afghanistan on Operation Herrick.

[edit] Commanders

  • Brigadier Peter Wall (late Royal Engineers)(1 September 1999)
  • Brigadier 'Barney' White-Spunner (late Blues and Royals)(21 December 2000)
  • Brigadier 'Jacko' Page (late Parachute Regiment)(December 2002)
  • Brigadier 'Ed' Butler (late Royal Green Jackets)

[edit] Constituent Units

[edit] Present day (as of 2006)

also attached but not part of the Brigade are:

  • No1(Para) Troop, 33 Engineer Regiment (EOD) (parachute trained EOD unit)
  • Light Electronic Warfare Team, 14 Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare) - (parachute trained EW unit)
  • 4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment - Reserve unit based at Pudsey, London, Croydon, Hebburn, St Helens, Glasgow and Edinburgh
  • Joint CBRN Regiment Light Role Specialist Monitoring Team (developing a parachute capabilty in order to provide air-assault CBRN teams to 16 AA Bde)

Note: In 2006 it was announced that the UK based battalion of the Royal Gurkha Rifles would be assigned to 16 Air Assault Brigade, and would rotate in the air assault role with 1 R IRISH and 5 SCOTS - each battalion will spend five years with 16 Air Assault Brigade, followed by two years with 52 Infantry Brigade in the standard light infantry role.

[edit] 2003 Iraq War

  • 16 Air Assault Brigade Headquarters and Signals Squadron (216)
  • D Squadron, Blues and Royals
  • 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment
  • 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
  • 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
  • Elements of 4th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
  • 7 (Parachute) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery
  • 3 Regiment, AAC
  • 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault), RE
  • 7 Air Assault Battlion, REME
  • 13 Air Assault Support Regiment, RLC
  • 16 Close Support Medical Regiment, RAMC (144 Parachute Med Squadron v)
  • 156 Provost Company, RMP
  • The Pathfinder Platoon

[edit] References

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