Land Command

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
British Army

Components
British Army
Territorial Army
List of current regiments
Structure of the British Army
Administration
HQ Land Command
HQ Adjutant-General
HQ Northern Ireland
Overseas Deployments
British Forces Germany
British Forces Cyprus
British Forces Gibraltar
Equipment
Modern Equipment
History
History of the British Army
Timeline of the British Army
Personnel
List of senior officers
Officer rank insignia
Enlisted rank insignia

Land Command (or 'HQ Land') is a military command and part of the structure of the modern British Army.

It assumed control of virtually all Army combat and combat support troops on 1 April 1995. Three major exceptions were Cyprus, the Falklands, and Northern Ireland, where the General Officer commanding reports to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for operations in support of the civil power.

Contents

[edit] Background

The headquarters is the direct descendent of the late Cold War Headquarters UK Land Forces, which in turn was formed from the disbanding Southern Command. It is located at Erskine Barracks, Wilton, Wiltshire, but in time will amalgamate with Headquarters Adjutant General under 'Project Hyperion' and probably move to Andover.[1] The new HQ may be known as Headquarters Land Forces.

Commander-in-Chief Land Command (CINCLAND) is also the Standing Joint Commander (UK) or SJC(UK), responsible for overall command to MOD contributions to national crisis response activities with the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland). [2]

[edit] Divisions and Districts

Land Command was initially divided up into eight formations, each one commanded by a Major General, and several smaller units including the training units and training support units in Belize, Brunei, Canada (Suffield for armoured battlegroups and Wainwright for infantry units) and Kenya. The reduction of army districts announced in December 1998 reduced that to six, with Scotland and London losing their formal district status. While London District was reduced to a Brigade headquarters, with the retention of a Major General commanding and its "District" title, it seems likely that it retains an importance considerably surpassing the normal regional brigade HQ.

Land Command was later divided in 2003, under the LANDmark reorganisation, into two suborganisations, Field Army and Regional Forces, that paralled the Cold War structure of UKLF.[3] Commander Field Army has 2 deployable Divisions (1st Armoured Division, 3rd Mechanised Division), Theatre Troops, Joint Helicopter Command, and DGTS LWC under him, while Commander Regional Forces is responsible for 3 regenerative Divisions (2nd Division, 4th Division, 5th Division), London District, and UK Support Command Germany.

HQs 2, 4, and 5 Divisions (originally referred to as Regenerative Divisions), plus the London District effectively act as military districts in the UK itself; the divisions would only be able to generate field formations in the event of a general war. UK Support Command Germany forms the district HQ for personnel based in Germany that are not attached to 1st Armoured Division.

London District's most public concern is the administration of ceremonial units and provision of garrisons for such installations as the Tower of London. However, its primary responsibility is to maintain units directly for the defence of the capital. It should be noted that 56 (London) Brigade was disbanded in 1993.

[edit] Brigades

The British Army has only seven genuinely operational, deployable brigade groups – the six incorporated in 1 Armoured Division and 3 Mechanised Division, plus 16 Air Assault Brigade. Two brigades, 2 Infantry Brigade and 52 Infantry Brigade, are established to be able to deploy regular battalions for operational service as required. This role will be concentrated within 52 Infantry Brigade, which will move to the operational command of 3 Mechanised Division in 2007. 3 Commando Brigade, a Naval Service formation formed predominantly by units of the Royal Marines but with significant army support, is under the direct command of the Commander in Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET).

The numerous other ‘brigades’ within 2, 4, and 5 Divisions would be better described as regional districts whose function is to administer all Territorial Army units within their area and to coordinate the provision of support to the civil authority if necessary, as well as home defence tasks. An example was the coordination of military support the regional brigades did during the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001. The fourteen new Civil Contingency Response Forces (CCRFs), each parented by a TA infantry battalion, are also linked into this structure. [4] They form force elements which may be called on, alongside regular units, by the established chain of command (Ministry of Defence, Land Command, Divisional HQs and Regional Brigades) in the event of a request for military assistance by the civil authorities.

There are, in addition to those already mentioned, a number of specialist brigades which bring together under a single administrative apparatus several units performing similar functions. There are two logistic brigades that are attached directly to the two ready divisions; 102 Logistic Brigade is assigned to provide support to 1st Armoured Division, while 101 Logistic Brigade supports 3rd Mechanised Division. 104 Logistic Support Brigade operates as the permanent logistic support command attached to Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) at Northwood; for administrative purposes, 104 Brigade comes under the authority of the GOC, Theatre Troops. All of the formation reconnaissance regiments not attached to either 1st Armoured Division or 3rd Mechanised Division are grouped together under the administration of 1 Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade, while the similarly unattached artillery regiments come under either 1 Artillery Brigade or 7 Air Defence Brigade.

[edit] Hierarchy

[edit] CINCLAND

  • Commander in Chief Land Command: General Sir Redmond Watt KCVO CBE
    • Chief of Staff, HQ Land: Major General B W White-Spunner CBE

[edit] Field Army

[edit] Regional Forces

[edit] Previous Commanders-in-Chief

UK Land Forces

Land Command

[edit] Northern Ireland

Main Article - HQ Northern Ireland

Headquarters Northern Ireland is not part of Land Command. It is a separate formation whose commander reports to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for operational purposes.

  • General Officer Commanding HQ Northern Ireland: Lieutenant General N R Parker CBE

The two brigades under the command of HQNI will amalgamate into a single formation, 38th (Irish) Brigade, in 2007. This formation will come under the command of HQ 2nd Division[5].

[edit] Notes

Note 1: Although 101 Logistic Brigade and 102 Logistic Brigade provide support directly to the army's two deployable divisions, they fall under the administrative control of HQ Theatre Troops [2]
Note 2: Joint Helicopter Command is a tri-service formation that includes the Commando Helicopter Force operated by the Fleet Air Arm, the RAF's support helicopter squadrons, and the battlefield helicopters of the Army Air Corps.
Note 3: 16 Air Assault Brigade is an independent formation that can be deployed either independently or as part of a higher formation. For administrative purposes, it is part of 4 Division.
Note 4: 42 (North-West) Brigade will be transferred to 5th Division at some point, coinciding with 38 (Irish) Brigade transferring to 2nd Division. No date for this has been set.
Note 5: 52 Infantry Brigade will be transferred to 3rd (UK) Division on 1st April 2007.
Note 6: 49 (East) Brigade will be transferred to 5th Division on 1st April 2007.
Note 7: 43 (Wessex) Brigade will be transferred to 4th Division on 1st April 2007.

[edit] External Links and Sources

  • A Guide to Invitations and Appointments for High Commissions and Embassies in London, Ministry of Defence, June 2006 edition
  • Jane's Defence Weekly article in 1995 on Land Command

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=26829.html
  2. ^ Interim Joint Doctrine Publication 2
  3. ^ Lt Col Richard Quinlan, R Signals, HQ Theatre Troops, in News From Formations, The Wire, April 2003, p.127
  4. ^ Hansard 24/02/03
  5. ^ Hansard, 29th Nov 2006
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/a/n/Land_Command_97e3.html"