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COMPOSITION OF
1ST DIVISION
1st Division has its
headquarters at Herford in Germany (about 50kms from Hanover) and the
three Armoured Brigades under command are located at Osnabruck, Bergen-Hohne
and Sennelager.
Divisional Structure HQ
1st Division
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Note:
(1) Under Future Army Structure proposals, 4th Armoured Brigade became 4th
Mechanised Brigade during 2006 and is currently (2009) redeploying to
Catterick (Yorkshire) retaining a single Warrior Battalion. In general
terms a Mechanised Brigade contains one Armoured Infantry Battalion
equipped with Warrior.
(2) DAG (Divisional Artillery Group) This DAG could be reinforced by
Rapier Air Defence, HVM and MLRS units from the UK as necessary.
Personnel totals in Germany will probably fall to around 15,000 from late
2009. During 2009 this Division could probably provide the Headquarters
(HQs) for up to six Battlegroups.
It is probable that in the event of hostilities (as was the case in recent
operations in Iraq) considerable numbers of officers and soldiers from the
Territorial Army (TA) would be used to reinforce this division. These
reinforcements would consist of individuals, drafts of specialists, or by
properly formed TA units varying in size from Mobile Bath Units of 20 men,
to Major Units over 500 strong.
102 LOGISTICS BRIGADE
This brigade provides third
line combat service support wherever this is required army wide but is the
first ‘port of call’ for combat service support to 1st Division. The
Brigade Headquarters is at Gutersloh in West Germany, reasonably close to
the Headquarters of 1st Division in Herford. The Brigade, with units based
around a core group of 3 x RLC Regiments is due to return to Cosford in
the UK between 2009 and 2012.
POSSIBLE CHANGES IN THE
BFG STRUCTURE
In addition to the mid 2006 announcement of the move of 4 Armoured Brigade
from Germany to the UK, the Secretary of State for Defence has announced
the intention to make further adjustments to the structure of the British
Forces in Germany.
These include proposals for the return to the UK of Headquarters Allied
Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC) to Innsworth (Gloucestershire) in 2010.
Additionally 102 Logistic Brigade and 1 Signal Brigade will move to
Cosford (Shropshire) over the period 2009-2012.
There are also plans for a series of minor moves within Germany which will
lead to the closure of Osnabruck Station from during 2009. These moves
will probably result in the concentration of UK Germany-based forces in
Hohne, Paderborn and Guttersloh garrisons.
Once all of these moves have been completed we would expect total UK force
levels in Germany to reduce from around 20,000 to about 14,000.
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