1st Reconnaissance Brigade (United Kingdom)

The 1st Reconnaissance Brigade was a short-lived specialist formation of the British Army which administered the formation reconnaissance regiments not attached to a division or brigade, and was disbanded sometime between 2005 and 2006.[3]

Screening Force
1st Reconnaissance Brigade
Active1997–2005/6; 8 years, 9 months
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeReconnaissance Formation
RoleCommanding the Formation Reconnaissance regiments attached to divisions
SizeBrigade
Part ofHeadquarters Theatre Troops[1]
Brigade HQNetheravon[2]
A Scorpion reconnaissance vehicle of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division, advances east into Kuwait from southern Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.

Screening Force

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Sometime after the publishing of the 1981 Defence White Paper "The Way Forward", the Screening Force (Corps Border Surveillance Force) was formed as an ad hoc brigade within I (British) Corps. Brigadier Royal Armoured Corps, British Army of the Rhine would become 'Commander Screening Force' on mobilisation.[4][5]

The force's objective, if mobilised, was to hold off a soviet frontal invasion for as long as possible until the 1st and 4th Armoured Divisions could be moved into position.[5] If mobilised, the brigade would control al the units of the division in the reconnaissance role and providing a reconnaissance/screening force.[6] On mobilisation, the force would have consisted:[6][5]

In 1992 following the disbandment of the British Army of the Rhine, the force HQ was disbanded.

 
A Scimitar Light Tank from the Black Watch is pictured during a firepower demonstration on Salisbury Plain.

Reconnaissance Brigade

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The 1st Reconnaissance Brigade was established on 1 April 1997.[10]

The brigade might have been assigned to HQ Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.[11] Following the 2003 reorganisation of the Army under 'LANDmark', HQ Theatre Troops was formed to oversee the specialist brigades of the army.[12] The brigade soon joined HQ Theatre Troops, which it would remain under until disbanding in 2005-06, following the Future Army Structure programme.[13][14]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ "HQ Theatre Troops Organisation". army.mod.uk. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  2. ^ Mackinlay, p. 57.
  3. ^ Mackinlay, p. 57.
  4. ^ Louis Vieuxbill. "BAOR Order of Battle July 1989" (PDF). orbat85.nl. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-06-02. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Alterfritz, p. 38.
  6. ^ a b Vieux-Bill, Louis (May 2021). "British Army of the Rhine Order of Battle, July 1989" (PDF). 1985 Orders of Battle. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  7. ^ "British Army units from 1945 on - 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards". british-army-units1945on.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  8. ^ "British Army units from 1945 on - 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers". british-army-units1945on.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  9. ^ "British Army units from 1945 on - 664 Squadron". british-army-units1945on.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  10. ^ Mackinlay, p. 57; Unit historical record: Headquarters, 1st Reconnaissance Brigade. The National Archives, Kew, Surrey, United Kingdom: The National Archives. 1 April 1997.
  11. ^ Staff Officer's Handbook 1999, Serial 1-26-1.
  12. ^ "HQ Theatre Troops Organisation". army.mod.uk. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  13. ^ Tanner 2009, p. 33.
  14. ^ Mackinlay, p. 57.

References

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  • Ministry of Defence, Staff Officer's Handbook Number 71038, D/DGD&D/18/35/54, 1999.
  • James Tanner, The British Army since 2000, 2014 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, United Kingdom. ISBN 978 178200 593 3.
  • Mackinlay, Gordon Angus (2007). "A Moment in Time": The British Army at a moment in time - 1 July 2007: A look at and from it of the Makeup of the Regular and Territorial Army. Self publish.