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Under the terms of the Future Army Structure (FAS) the infantry will
be restructured as follows:
a. The number of Regular Line Infantry battalions will reduce by four
(from 40 to 36 by April 2008), with the manpower and structure of one
of the four being used as the core of a new ‘special reconnaissance’
battalion.
b. A new Regimental system and structure will be adopted over the
coming years. This will be based on large, multi battalion regiments.
c. Arms Plotting will cease, limited relocations will occur for
battalions in particular roles/ locations.
d. There will be an increase from 19 (48%) to 23 (64%) of Infantry
battalions in All Arms brigades.
e. The 9th platoon in Armoured Infantry battalions will be decaderised.
f. Enhancements will be made to reconnaissance platoons.
g. Fire Support platoons will be established with a mix of AGL and
GPMG.
Inside the overall Future Army Structure, the Future Infantry
Structure has proposed that the reduction of four battalions will be
achieved in the following way:
a. One battalion from the Scottish Division by the union of 1 RS and 1
KOSB.
b. One battalion from the King’s Division by merging 1 KORBR, 1 KINGS
and 1 QLR to form two new battalions of The King’s Lancashire and
Border Regiment.
c. Merging 1 RGBW with 1 D&D who together become part of the Light
Infantry.
d. Removing the 1st Bn The Parachute Regiment from the infantry
structure and using it as the core of a new, tri-service Special
Forces Support Group.
By 2008 the new regular infantry structure should therefore resemble
the following:
The Guards Division
1st Bn The Grenadier Guards
1st Bn The Coldstream Guards
1st Bn The Scots Guards
1st Bn The Irish Guards
1st Bn The Welsh Guards
Nijmegen Company The Grenadier Guards
7 Company The Coldstream Guards
F Company The Scots Guards
The Scottish Division
1st Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Royal Scots and King’s Own
Scottish Borderers)
2nd Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Royal Highland Fusiliers)
3rd Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Black Watch)
4th Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Highlanders)
5th Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland (The Argyll & Sutherland
Highlanders)
The Queen’s Division
1st Bn The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment
2nd Bn The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment
1st Bn The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
2nd Bn The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
1st Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment
2nd Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment
The King’s Division
1st Bn The Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own)
2nd Bn The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards)
3rd Bn The Yorkshire Regiment (Duke of Wellington’s)
1st Bn The King’s, Lancashire and Border Regiment
2nd Bn The King’s, Lancashire and Border Regiment
The Prince of Wales’s Division
1st Bn The Royal Welsh (The Royal Welch Fusiliers)
2nd Bn The Royal Welsh (The Royal Regiment of Wales)
1st Bn The Mercian Regiment (Cheshires)
2nd Bn The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters)
3rd Bn The Mercian Regiment (Staffords)
The Light Division
1st Bn The Light Infantry
2nd Bn The Light Infantry
3rd Bn The Light Infantry
1st Bn The Royal Green Jackets
2nd Bn The Royal Green Jackets
The Royal Gurkha Rifles
1st Bn The Royal Gurkha Rifles
2nd Bn The Royal Gurkha Rifles
The Parachute Regiment
1st Bn The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces Support Group)
2nd Bn The Parachute Regiment
3rd Bn The Parachute Regiment
The Royal Irish Regiment
1st Bn The Royal Irish Regiment
Force Operations and Readiness Mechanism (FORM)
Under the Future Army Structure there is a strategy to deliver both
training and commitments known as the Force Operations and Readiness
Mechanism (FORM); a replacement for the Formation Readiness Cycle. All
Army units, including Infantry battalions, will programme their
training and operational commitment activities according to the
principles of FORM. This system enables the Army to meet its outputs
(force elements ready for both programmed operations and contingent
operations/emergency deployments) from within the force structure.
The sequence of activity for any one force element, such as an
Infantry battalion, is in five separate six month phases:
Phase 1 - Recuperation
Phase 2 - Unit and battlegroup training
Phase 3 - Formation training
Phase 4 - High readiness
Phase 5 - An operational deployment
Infantry entry 2004 - 2009
The following tables show the latest UK MoD figures for the number of
trained officers and soldiers expected to join the infantry over the
next five years.
|
Officers |
Financial year
|
| Method of entry |
2004–05
|
2005–06 |
2006–07 |
2007–08 |
2008–09 |
| Direct entry |
165 |
165 |
165 |
165 |
165 |
| Late entry |
31 |
28 |
28 |
28 |
28 |
| Total |
196 |
193 |
193 |
193 |
193 |
Note: Direct entry
relates to those who enter the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst direct
from education or civilian life. Late entry refers to those who apply
for a commission through the ranks.
|
Soldiers |
Financial year
|
| Category |
2004–05 |
2005–06 |
2006–07 |
2007–08 |
2008–09 |
| Foot Guards |
368 |
405 |
418 |
430 |
430 |
| Line Regiments |
2,004 |
2,200 |
2,134 |
2,036 |
2,036 |
| Parachute Regiment |
230 |
225 |
221 |
234 |
234 |
| Total |
2,582 |
2,830 |
2,780 |
2,700 |
2,700 |
Operational units
It would be unusual for the Infantry to fight as battalion units
especially in armoured or mechanised formations. If the task is
appropriate, the HQ of an infantry battalion will become the HQ of a
'battle group', and be provided with armour, artillery, engineers and
possibly aviation to enable it to become a balanced Infantry Battle
Group. Similarly Infantry companies can be detached to HQs of Armoured
Regiments to make up Armoured Battle Groups.
In this section, the groupings are based on Unit
Establishment figures for peace support operations. For Warfighting a
pairing mechanism operates which provides augmentation which allows a
unit to meet its role. For example, an Armoured Infantry Regiment will
receive additional Manoeuvre Support assets and another rifle company
to reach its Warfighting Establishment (WFE) of 4 x Companies, 9 x
Mortars and 18 x Medium Range Anti-Tank Guided Weapons (ATGW).
TYPES
OF INFANTRY BATTALIONS
| Infantry
Battalion Armoured |
Equipped
with Warrior AFV |
| Infantry
Battalion Mechanised |
Equipped
with Saxon APC |
| Infantry
Battalion Light Role |
Equipped
for General Service |
| Infantry
Battalion Air Assault |
Equipped
for Air Mobile Operations |
THE OTHER TYPES ARE:
|
Gurkha Infantry Battalion |
Equipped as a Light Role Battalion |
|
TA General Reserve Infantry Battalion |
Scaled and equipped to suit the special requirements of the Territorial
Army. Generally speaking these Battalions have three Rifle Companies.
|
NUMBERS
OF BATTALIONS IN SPECIFIC ROLES
|
|
Infantry Battalions (Armoured) |
9 |
|
Infantry Battalions (Mechanised |
6 |
|
Infantry Battalions (Light Role) |
11
|
|
Infantry Battalions (Parachute) |
3 (Air Assault) |
|
Infantry Battalions (Northern Ireland) |
6
(5 Resident in Ulster) |
|
Infantry Battalions (Gurkha) |
2 |
|
Infantry Battalions (TA) |
15 |
| Land
Warfare Training Centre Bn |
1 |
|
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THE
SPECIAL AIR SERVICE
|
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The SAS (Special Air
Service) is considered part of the infantry and a single Regular
Battalion
is established to carry out special operations. SAS soldiers are selected
from other branches of the Army, after exhaustive selection tests.
There are two regiments
of TA SAS.
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Future TA Infantry
The future TA Infantry structure will be organised to support and
complement the regular regimental structure, thereby restoring a true
sense of identity at TA battalion level. There will be 14 TA infantry
battalions. These will provide reinforcement of the regular infantry
for up to 14 unit HQs or, where necessary individual or smaller unit
reinforcements.
In addition the new TA Infantry Structure will provide the manpower to
include up to seven Defence Troops for Armoured and Formation
Reconnaissance Regiments committed to operations. The affiliation of
TA battalions will be driven by the revised Future Infantry Structure
(FIS), assigning one TA battalion to each new 2 or 3 battalion regular
regiments, and two TA battalions to a large regular regiment.
Restructuring will be conducted on the basis of a minimum of 400
soldiers per battalion. We expect a finalised structure in late 2005.
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