Operation Herrick order of battle

This is the Operation Herrick order of battle, which lists the British forces that have taken part in Operation Herrick since it began in 2002.

Contents

Ground Forces

Kabul

Operation Herrick began in 2002 on the end of Operation Fingal, which saw Britain hand command of the ISAF force to Turkey. At that point, the deployment was scaled back from 2,100 to approximately 300, primarily concerned with security in Kabul, and manning the UK Afghan National Army Training Team (UKANATT).

In 2003, the deployment in Kabul was expanded to battalion size when two Provincial Reconstruction Teams were established, along with a rapid reaction force, based around a light role infantry battalion, the Afghanistan Roulement Infantry Battalion (ARIB).

ARIB Deployments

Helmand

In January 2006, the Government announced that, due to the worsening situation in the south of Afghanistan, a brigade sized formation numbering approximately 3,000 would be deployed to Helmand.

Current Deployment

Previous Deployments

In February 2007, it was announced that an additional 1,400 troops would be deployed to Afghanistan, primarily formed as a battlegroup around a light infantry battalion, the 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh (Royal Welch Fusiliers).
*Renamed as 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) 01/09/07

*Elements of the Theatre Reserve Battalion, 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires) were deployed in support of both 16 Air Assault Brigade and 3 Commando Brigade

*Elements of the Theatre Reserve Battalion, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were deployed in support of 19 Light Brigade and 11 Light Brigade

In October 2009, the total force was increased to 9,000 personnel with the addition of several other units:

Future Deployments

Logistic Support

Supporting the UK force is HQ Joint Force Support (Afghanistan)(JFSp(A)). This 1* headquarters commands the Theatre Logistics Group, Theatre Provost Group, Theatre Medical Group and Theatre Equipement Support Group. These are split between Kandahar Airfield and Camp Bastion. JFSp(A) is a joint command and currently the HQ is made up of 101 Logistic Brigade staff and augmentees.

Air Forces

The air component of British forces assigned to Operation Herrick is based at Kandahar and comes under the overall command of 904 Expeditionary Air Wing. In August 2004, Britain announced that 6 Royal Air Force Harrier GR7 jets from No. 3 Squadron would deploy to Afghanistan, marking the first time RAF ground-attack jets have been deployed to the country. They fully arrived in September.

Also under the command of 904 EAW are a number of ground based units of both the Army and RAF:

References

  1. ^ 3 Para soldiers on their way to Afghanistan Ministry of Defence
  2. ^ Handover in Helmand as 3 Cdo Brigade replace 16 Air Assault Brigade Ministry of Defence
  3. ^ 12 Mechanized Brigade to replace 3 Commando Brigade in Afghanistan Ministry of Defence
  4. ^ 52 Infantry Brigade to replace 12 Mechanized Brigade in Afghanistan Ministry of Defence
  5. ^ 16 Air Assault Brigade to replace 52 Infantry Brigade Ministry of Defence
  6. ^ 3 Commando Brigade to replace 16 Air Assault in Afghanistan Ministry of Defence
  7. ^ 19 Light Brigade to replace 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines, in Afghanistan Ministry of Defence
  8. ^ 11 Light Brigade to replace 19 Light Brigade in Afghanistan Ministry of Defence
  9. ^ 4th Mechanized Brigade to replace 11 Light Brigade in Helmand Ministry of Defence
  10. ^ 16 Air Assault Brigade to replace 4th Mechanized Brigade in Helmand Ministry of Defence
  11. ^ 3 Commando Brigade Take Command Of Task Force HelmandMinistry of Defence