Land Command

Land Command (or 'HQ Land') is a military command and part of the structure of the modern British Army.

It assumed control of virtually all Army combat and combat support troops on 1 April 1995. Three major exceptions were Cyprus, the Falklands, and Northern Ireland, where the General Officer commanding reports to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for operations in support of the civil power.

Background

The headquarters is the direct descendent of the late Cold War Headquarters UK Land Forces, which in turn was formed from the disbanding Southern Command. It is located at Erskine Barracks, Wilton, Wiltshire, but in time will amalgamate with Headquarters Adjutant General under 'Project Hyperion' and probably move to the former RAF Andover site, now used by other MOD bodies. [ [http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=26829.html Project Hyperion] ] The new HQ will probably be known as Headquarters Land Forces and be active from 1 April 2009. [ [http://www.robertkey.com/uk-land-command.htm Robert Key MP's website] ]

Commander-in-Chief Land Command (CINCLAND) is also the Standing Joint Commander (UK) or SJC(UK), responsible for overall command to MOD contributions to national crisis response activities with the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland). [ Interim Joint Doctrine Publication 2 ]

Divisions and Districts

Land Command was initially divided up into eight formations, each one commanded by a Major General, and several smaller units including the training units and training support units in Belize, Brunei, Canada (Suffield for armoured battlegroups and Wainwright for infantry units) and Kenya. The reduction of army districts announced in December 1998 reduced that to six, with Scotland and London losing their formal district status. While London District was reduced to a Brigade headquarters, with the retention of a Major General commanding and its "District" title, it seems likely that it retains an importance considerably surpassing the normal regional brigade HQ.

Land Command was later divided in 2003, under the LAND"mark" reorganisation, into two suborganisations, Field Army and Regional Forces, that paralled the Cold War structure of UKLF. [Lt Col Richard Quinlan, R Signals, HQ Theatre Troops, in News From Formations, The Wire, April 2003, p.127] Commander Field Army has 2 deployable Divisions (1st Armoured Division, 3rd Mechanised Division), Theatre Troops, Joint Helicopter Command, and DGTS LWC under him, while Commander Regional Forces is responsible for 3 regenerative Divisions (2nd Division, 4th Division, 5th Division), London District, and UK Support Command Germany. In 2007 it was announced that a new deployable divisional HQ would be established until at least 2011 as a means of meeting the UK's commitments to provide divisional HQs on a rotational basis to Regional Command (South) in Afghanistan and as the lead nation of Multi-National Division (South-East) in Iraq. This will be based in York and formed around the re-established 6th Division. [ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070726/wmstext/70726m0002.htm Hansard 26th July 2007] ]

HQs 2, 4, and 5 Divisions (originally referred to as Regenerative Divisions), plus the London District effectively act as military districts in the UK itself; the divisions would only be able to generate field formations in the event of a general war. UK Support Command Germany forms the district HQ for personnel based in Germany that are not attached to 1st Armoured Division.

London District's most public concern is the administration of ceremonial units and provision of garrisons for such installations as the Tower of London. However, its primary responsibility is to maintain units directly for the defence of the capital. It should be noted that 56 (London) Brigade was disbanded in 1993.

Brigades

The British Army has only eight genuinely operational, deployable brigade groups – the seven incorporated in 1 Armoured Division and 3 Mechanised Division, plus 16 Air Assault Brigade. 3 Commando Brigade, a Naval Service formation formed predominantly by units of the Royal Marines but with significant army support, is under the direct command of the Commander in Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET). In November 2007, the MOD announced the temporary creation of another deployable brigade, designated as 11 Light Brigade, which will command the Operation Herrick rotation between October 2009 and April 2010. [ [http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/11BrigadeWillProvideVitalSupportToAfghanOperations.htm 11 Brigade will provide vital support to Afghan operations] ]

The numerous other ‘brigades’ within 2, 4, and 5 Divisions would be better described as regional districts whose function is to administer all Territorial Army units within their area and to coordinate the provision of support to the civil authority if necessary, as well as home defence tasks. An example was the coordination of military support the regional brigades did during the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001. The fourteen new Civil Contingency Response Forces (CCRFs), each parented by a TA infantry battalion, are also linked into this structure. [ [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/vo030224/text/30224w32.htm Hansard 24/02/03] ] They form force elements which may be called on, alongside regular units, by the established chain of command (Ministry of Defence, Land Command, Divisional HQs and Regional Brigades) in the event of a request for military assistance by the civil authorities.

There are, in addition to those already mentioned, a number of specialist brigades which bring together under a single administrative apparatus several units performing similar functions. There are two logistic brigades that are attached directly to the two ready divisions; 102 Logistic Brigade is assigned to provide support to 1st Armoured Division, while 101 Logistic Brigade supports 3rd Mechanised Division. 104 Logistic Support Brigade operates as the permanent logistic support command attached to Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) at Northwood; for administrative purposes, 104 Brigade comes under the authority of the GOC, Theatre Troops. All of the formation reconnaissance regiments not attached to either 1st Armoured Division or 3rd Mechanised Division are grouped together under the administration of 1 Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade, while the similarly unattached artillery regiments come under either 1 Artillery Brigade or 7 Air Defence Brigade.

Hierarchy

CINCLAND

*Commander in Chief Land Command: General Sir D J Richards KCB, CBE, DSO [http://www.army.mod.uk/servingsoldier/senior_appts/announcements.htm Senior Officer Appointments] ]
**Chief of Staff, HQ Land:

Field Army

*Commander, Field Army: Lieutenant General G C M Lamb CMG DSO OBE
**General Officer Commanding 1st (UK) Armoured Division: Major General G J Binns CBE DSO MC
***4 Mechanised Brigade
***7 Armoured Brigade
***20 Armoured Brigade
**General Officer Commanding 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division: Major General B W White-Spunner CBE
***1 Mechanised Brigade
***12 Mechanised Brigade
***19 Light Brigade
***52 Infantry Brigade fn|5
**General Officer Commanding 6th (UK) Division: Major General J D Page OBE (from Feb 2008)
**General Officer Commanding, Theatre Troops: Major General H Rollo CBE
***1 Artillery Brigade
***HQ Joint Ground-Based Air Defence (16 Regiment, RA)
***8 Force Engineer Brigade
****12 (Air Support) Engineer Group
****29 (Land Support) Engineer Group
****170 (Infrastructure Support) Engineer Group
***101 Logistic Brigadefn|1
***102 Logistic Brigadefn|1
***104 Logistic Support Brigade (PJHQ)
***2 (National Communications) Signal Brigade
***11 Signal Brigade
***1 Signal Brigade
***1 Military Intelligence Brigade
***2 Medical Brigade
**General Officer Commanding, Joint Helicopter Command: Major General G R Coward OBE
***Joint Helicopter Command
***16 Air Assault Brigadefn|2
**Director General Training Support: Major General A C P Kennett CBE

Regional Forces

*Commander, Regional Forces: Lieutenant General N R Parker CBE
**General Officer Commanding 2nd Division: Major General D McDowall MBE
***15 (North East) Brigade
***38 (Irish) Brigade
***42 (North West) Brigadefn|4
***51 (Scottish) Brigade
***Catterick Garrison
**General Officer Commanding 4th Division: Major General P F Everson OBE
***2 (South East) Brigade
***43 (Wessex) Brigadefn|7
***145 (South) Brigade
***Aldershot Garrison
***British Gurkhas Nepal
***Brunei Garrison
**General Officer Commanding London District: Major General W G Cubitt CBE
**General Officer Commanding 5th Division: General M J Rutledge OBE
***49 (East) Brigadefn|6
***143 (West Midlands) Brigade
***160 (Welsh) Brigade
***16 Air Assault Brigadefn|2
***Colchester Garrison
**General Officer Commanding UK Support Command Germany: Major General M. Melvin OBE
***British Forces Liaison Organisation (Germany)
***Gütersloh Garrison
***Hohne Garrison
***Paderborn Garrison
***Osnabrück Garrison

Previous Commanders-in-Chief

"See Article Commander-in-Chief, Land Command

Northern Ireland

"Main Article - HQ Northern Ireland"

Headquarters Northern Ireland is not part of Land Command. It is a separate formation whose commander reports to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for operational purposes.
*General Officer Commanding HQ Northern Ireland: Major General C C Brown CBE

38th (Irish) Brigade is the single British Army formation under the command of HQNI. It was formed in 2007 through the amalgamation of two previous formations:
*39th Infantry Brigade
*107 (Ulster) Brigade

38 Brigade will come under the command of the 2nd Division. [ [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm061129/wmstext/61129m0001.htm Hansard, 29th Nov 2006] ]

Notes

fnb|1 Although 101 Logistic Brigade and 102 Logistic Brigade provide support directly to the army's two deployable divisions, they fall under the administrative control of HQ Theatre Troops [http://www.army.mod.uk/unitsandorgs/majorhq/hq_th_tps/organisation.htm]
fnb|2 16 Air Assault Brigade is an independent formation that can be deployed either independently or as part of a higher formation. For administrative purposes, it is part of 5 Division.
fnb|3 42 (North-West) Brigade will be transferred to 5th Division at some point, coinciding with 38 (Irish) Brigade transferring to 2nd Division. No date for this has been set.
fnb|4 52 Infantry Brigade was transferred to 3rd (UK) Division on 1st April 2007.
fnb|5 49 (East) Brigade was transferred to 5th Division on 1st April 2007.
fnb|6 43 (Wessex) Brigade was transferred to 4th Division on 1st April 2007.

External Links and Sources

*A Guide to Invitations and Appointments for High Commissions and Embassies in London, Ministry of Defence, June 2006 edition
*Jane's Defence Weekly article in 1995 on Land Command

References