1st Reconnaissance Brigade (United Kingdom)

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]

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]

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

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

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

  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

  • 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.