Talk:Infantry of the British Army

Future Infantry Structure - My Version
I thought, just for the hell of it, I'd put on here my thoughts of the way the new infantry structure should be - don't worry, I'll try my best to justify it too :-P


 * 1st, 2nd & 3rd(V) Bn, Royal Irish Regiment
 * 1st, 2nd & 3rd Bn, Royal Gurkha Rifles
 * 1st Bn, Parachute Regiment/JSFG
 * 21st SAS Regiment(V), 22nd SAS Regiment, 23rd SAS Regiment(V)
 * Royal Gibraltar Regiment


 * I've amalgamated the five regiments of Foot Guards into two regiments to conform to the structure of the other divisions - keeping them as five single battalion regiments means that the Guards will not have the same oppotunities for career development and variety as other infantry regiments - this way, they can remain within their general recruiment areas (England for the Grenadier and Coldstream, the other three home nations for the Scots, Irish and Welsh), and fixed battalion roles, while allowing their men to move between battalions.
 * For the same reason, I've given the Royal Irish Regiment a second regular battalion - remaining as a single battalion will limit the options of the soldiers of the RIR. In order to gain this extra battalion, I would stop the disbandment of one of the home service battalions and re-role it.
 * I have also given an extra battalion to the Royal Gurkha Rifles - to me, it is not fair that the Gurkhas do not have the same opportunities as other soldiers in the British Army to serve as armoured or mechanised infantry, or as air assault. This way, two of the Gurkha battalions can remain as light infantry, while the third does something different.
 * In order to keep within the 36 battalion limit set out by Future Army Structure (which is ridiculous to me) while allocating these two extra battalions, I have disbanded two battalions of the Parachute Regiment - given the fact that large scale parachute operations are a rarity these days, I have decided to allocate the paratroop role to companies in the light infantry battalions within the regular infantry, in much the same way as the Canadian Army does. Not only will this provide more variety within a large regiment, but it will also mean that the air assault role (currently assigned to the two battalions of the Paras plus one other) can be completely spread among the ordinary infantry, allowing yet more diversity of opportunity. The traditions of the Parachute Regiment can also still be maintained through the 1st Battalion, which will be the special forces support battalion.
 * The removal of the Parachute Regiment has meant the disbandment of their TA battalion, so I have created a full, two battalion regiment of Guards in the TA, again to conform to the structure of two TA battalions per division. This can be formed by splitting the London Regiment in two, with three rifle companies and half the HQ company each - of these, the two English companies (PWRR, RRF) could form one battalion with one RGJ company, while the two Celtic companies (London Scottish, London Irish Rifles) could form a battalion with the other RGJ company. I have also named this regiment as the Machine Gun Guards, perpetuating the name of the sixth Guards regiment that was formed for service in the First World War.
 * Finally, the most contentious issue of all - I will not amalgamate the Scottish regiments into one single giant regiment, but instead have a two battalion regiment of Lowlanders and a three battalion regiment of Highlanders. This way, each can maintain the various traditions of their regions while still conforming to the structure laid out of large regiments.
 * This will allow the new large infantry regiments the variety of five different roles:
 * Armoured Infantry
 * Mechanised Infantry
 * Light Role Infantry
 * Air Assault Infantry
 * Parachute Infantry

Anyway, that's the way I'd do it - it seems to me that the structure as it is now is a half-thought out, halfway house that allows vested interests to keep their prizes while screwing the rest. The above allows a greater semblance of the regimental structure to remain, and allows a greater variety of roles to be spread a bit more equally. To me, the above seems to at least take the thing to a proper and logical conclusion. But, that's only my opinion. Hammersfan 18:30, 21 September 2005


 * Re: the amalgamation of the guards- I shudder to think what the recation of the Grenadiers and the Coldstreams would be if someone tried to lump them into a single Regiment, especially the argument over who would become the 1st battalion and who the 2nd. MartinMcCann 6 Oct 2005

However, I still believe it is fairer for those who choose to join the guards this way than what is proposed. Hammersfan, 17:30, 10 October 2005
 * Well, as the Guards are a 'special case' :-P, it's always possible that they wouldn't need numbers; for example:
 * English Guards
 * Grenadier Battalion, English Guards
 * Coldstream Battalion, English Guards

New Regiments
So, instead of one very large regiment, we now have two. The Rifles has now joined the Royal Regiment of Scotland in the order of battle. How long will it be therefore until the remaining regiments decide it's better to amalgamate into very large regiments? Then into a single corps of infantry? I know this is inappropriate to say on here, but damn this pointless government for descerating and destroying the fabric of the army. Hammersfan, 15.35, 26 November 2005

History of FIS
Not appropriate for the main article, but the sequence of events with FIS is:

Summer 2003: The Treasury asks for a 25% reduction in infantry strength. The battalions nominated include a Guards battalion (IG), a Para Bn (1 Para), a Gurkha Bn and no less than 3 Scots Bns. November 2003: The plan is leaked to the press, and creates so much trouble that instead they move to the plan of reducing each Bn to 2 rifle coys, disbanding all TA Inf Bns and integrating them directly as Rifle Coys. March 2004: The plan is revised to create 15 multi-battalion regiments, a few of which were never formed (Foot Guards, Highland, Lowland and Wessex). However arrangements are given to the Divisions. October 2004: The Scots Regiments vote to amalgamate into one large regiment instead. The PoW Div is hung over which battalion to disband. November 2004: There is so much flak over the 2 Scots being disbanded that it is decided to cut an English Bn instead. The choices were a Bn of the Yorkshire Regiment or a Bn of the RRF (leaving the other Bn to amalgamate into the Yorkshire Regiment). December 2004: Things are announced, and only 3 battalions are actually cut. 67th Tigers 18:41, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Recruiting Area Map
Missing some things on the map:

67th Tigers 14:06, 25 February 2007 (UTC)
 * The Royal Green Jackets had the recruiting rights in mid-Hampshire (i.e. Winchester), not the PWRR, dating back to when Winchester was the Rifle depot. This has been carried over to the Rifles
 * The RRF is not the "London" Regiment. London is divided between several regiments:
 * PWRR have N and NW postcodes, and Surrey etc. postcodes
 * RGJ had E and W postcodes (now Rifles)
 * RRF have the WC, EC, SW and SE postcodes
 * R Anglian have the parts of Essex etc. in Greater London
 * Chester and West Cheshire is now Royal Welsh —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67th Tigers (talk • contribs) 14:03, 25 February 2007 (UTC).

WTF
Line infantry is connrcting to British Army Infantry???? So British Rifles were line infantry?? some clueless fucks on wiki. I just was on OG107 I went to click on a link "line infantry" next I'm looking at British Army infantry. Screw Wiki it was, still is a joke —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.239.30.236 (talk • contribs) 20:51, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Oxford Rifles
An episode of Inspector Lewis titled "The Dead Of Winter" has an individual mention that he is a retired Lieutenant Colonel who served in the Oxford Rifles. tom991

Keep these links
http://rwf-forum.co.uk/vBulletin/showthread.php?17113-Regimental-Update Royal Welsh update

http://www.rgbw-association.org.uk/newsletter2013.pdf The Rifles update

http://www.theblackwatch.co.uk/index/cms-filesystem-action/rh/trh_35_nov_2012.pdf The Royal Regiment of Scotland update

Phd8511 (talk) 21:33, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Out of date article
This article was out of date when it was drafted. It should be scrapped. JF42 (talk) 10:45, 19 July 2014 (UTC)

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Army 2020 refine update
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-12-15/HCWS367/

The Army is refining its force structure to deliver the capabilities set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015 and modernise the Army’s ability to fight at the divisional level. The SDSR 2015 significantly increased the readiness levels required of the Army, underpinned by investment in new capability and a war-fighting division as part of Joint Force 2025. It introduced the innovative Strike brigades, based on the new AJAX vehicle family and the development of Specialised Infantry battalions, reconfigured to provide an increased contribution to countering terrorism and building stability overseas.

I am today setting out refinements to the Army which will take place during the life of this Parliament. These have been aligned with the “Better Defence Estate” strategy announced in early November. As we previously committed, we will continue to sustain a regular Army of 82,000, a whole force of 112,000 regular and reserve troops and the Army’s footprint in the devolved nations. All existing regimental cap badges will be retained. Large parts of the Army will be unaffected but it will involve some units changing their role, equipment or location.

A modernised division will be centred on the 3rd (UK) Division, organised with four brigades of two Armoured infantry and two Strike, rather than three Armoured infantry as now. A significant uplift in capability, it will hold one of each at high readiness, rather than the current single armoured infantry brigade. From this, in times of crisis, the Army will be able to deploy a credible division of three brigades. To develop and transition to this new posture, in 2017 the Army will launch a Strike Experimentation Group in Warminster. This will ensure that the first new Strike Brigade will be formed by the end of the decade.

In 2017 the Army will also create the first two new Specialised Infantry battalions to pioneer this new capability. A new Group headquarters for the units will be established, initially based in York alongside the 1st (UK) Division of which the Group will be part, before moving to Aldershot by 2020. To reinforce this capability the Army plans to create two further Specialised Infantry battalions by 2019. They will conduct defence engagement and capacity building, providing training, assistance, advice and mentoring to our partners.

As part of our continued investment in the Army Reserve we will build on the success of the Future Reserves 2020 plan. We will optimise reserve structures, embed the successful pairing of regular and reserve units and increase the number of reserve combat units supporting the division. As a result two new reserve infantry battalions will be created from 2017. A new reserve Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) regiment will also be created.

A summary of the Army units most affected is described below.

Summary of changes proposed under Army 2020 Refine

Strike Brigade

The first Strike Brigade will operate from Catterick and Salisbury Plain and will be composed of the Household Cavalry Regiment, The King’s Royal Hussars, the 1st Battalion Scots Guards and The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland. A number of Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineer (REME) units will be allocated to provide close support logistic support, beginning with 1 Regiment RLC and 1 Close Support Battalion REME.

Specialised Infantry Battalions

In 2017 the Army will also create the first two new Specialised Infantry battalions to pioneer this new capability. These units will be The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland and 4th Battalion The Rifles, the former relocating to Aldershot from Belfast by 2019. A new Group headquarters for the units will be established, initially based in York alongside the 1st (UK) Division of which the Group will be part, before moving to Aldershot by 2020. To reinforce this capability the Army plans to create two further Specialised Infantry battalions by 2019. These units will be the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment and the 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment both joining the group in Aldershot by 2020.

Renaming of administrative structures

The introduction of the Specialised Infantry capability will mean some reorganisation of the infantry divisional structure, within which infantry regiments are administered, from seven to six divisions.

The Scottish and The Prince of Wales’s Administrative Divisions of Infantry will merge, incorporating The Royal Regiment of Scotland, The Royal Welsh Regiment and The Royal Irish Regiment. This administrative division will be called The Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division. The Mercian Regiment from the Prince of Wales’s Division will join with the King’s Division. Army administrative divisions of infantry are the groupings within which the Army manages its infantry soldiers and officers to give them the necessary broad spread of relevant career experience from across a number of different units and activities. They have no operational role. There will be no changes to the names or regimental construct of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, The Mercian Regiment, The Royal Welsh Regiment, or The Royal Irish Regiment as a result of these administrative changes.

Support

The changes announced will require adjustments in some supporting and enabling elements of the Army. HQ 102 Logistic Brigade, 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery, 35 Engineer Regiment, Headquarters 64 Works Group Royal Engineers, 2 Medical Regiment, Headquarters 4th Regiment Royal Military Police, 33 Field Hospital and 104,105 and 106 Battalions of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers reserve will be rationalised, with all manpower in those units being redeployed to other areas of the Army in its refined structure.

Army Reserves

As part of our continued investment in the Army Reserve we will build on the success of the Future Reserves 2020 plan. We will optimise reserve structures to better support the modernised division, embed the successful pairing of regular and reserve units and increase the number of reserve combat units supporting the division. As a result, two new reserve infantry battalions will be created from 2017. These are 4th Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment and 8th Battalion The Rifles. A new reserve Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) regiment will also be created.

Freyjaceleste862 (talk) 01:07, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

What is the used of the deployments section
Deployments are for battles not for static basing. Will remove. Discuss here if you want to revert.

JessPavarocks (talk) 12:01, 22 December 2016 (UTC)

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Options For Change
The Main page has good detail on post WW2 changes. However, it jumps from the 60/70s to the 2000s and misses out options for change and all the 90s cuts.

92.40.183.37 (talk) 06:42, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

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