Local army brigadewill be disbanded

THE current deployable Army Brigade based in Northern Ireland will be disbanded under Defence Secretary Philip Hammond’s plans to decimate the Army by cutting 17 major units and 20,000 regular soldiers in less than ten years, it has been revealed.

Announcing the swingeing cuts last week the Defence Secretary confirmed that 19 Light Brigade will be disbanded as part of plans to restructure the Army towards five multi-role Brigades over the next decade.

But whilst 19 Light Brigade will be consigned to history Mr Hammond revealed that local reservists - including Territorial Army (TA) personnel from Londonderry - will not be affected by the planned cuts.

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Despite the reprieve for local reservists - who account for around 20 per cent of all reserve deployments and are gearing up for a huge Defence commitment towards the London Olympics - the regular 19 Light Brigade will disappear.

An Army spokesman said: “As part of that re-structuring the Regular Soldiers in Northern Ireland will come under new Command chains when 19 Light Brigade HQ ceases to exist.

“Soldiers currently under command of 19 Light Brigade have recently returned from Afghanistan. This includes 2 Rifles based at Ballykinler, 2 Mercian based at Holywood and 19 Combat Services Support based at Kinnegar.”

Although Northern Ireland’s current deployable Brigade is going the MoD has indicated it is committed to a continuing permanent garrison in Ulster.

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Mr Hammond’s predecessor Liam Fox said last year that whilst 19 Light Brigade will be disbanded other units returning from Germany will move into the vacated bases and that the MoD is committed to maintaining a permanent military garrison in Northern Ireland.

An Army spokesperson also confirmed that TA personnel from Londonderry and elsewhere will not be affected by the cuts.

“38 (Irish) Brigade is the Regional Forces Brigade in Northern Ireland and is made up almost entirely of TA units and personnel,” he stated.

“The Brigade also provides the support network, known as the ‘Firm Base’, for Regular Army Units based within Northern Ireland. As well as this, 38 (Irish) Brigade is also responsible for the provision of military capability to the Civil Authority, be it in the form of bomb disposal or specialist engineer support.

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“Reservists from Ireland have a very high reputation for overseas operational deployments. Notably - in the past number of years reservists from NI have accounted for around 20 per cent of all reserve deployments.

“At the moment many of them are (like regulars from here - 2 Mercian and 2 Rifles) preparing for support to the huge Defence commitment to the Olympics in London. Shortly afterwards they step up training for more deployments to Afghanistan,” he added.

Equally, Joint Helicopter Command will not be affected by the cuts.

A spokesperson confirmed: “JHC is responsible for military air support within the Province delivering aircraft to Afghanistan on an enduring basis and vital training for aircrew and ground staff for the ongoing rest of world operations and to ensure a high level of readiness.”

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He added: “There is an ongoing need to train both fixed and rotary wing aircraft in low flying across the UK including Northern Ireland. All air movements are tightly controlled accounting for safety and local sensitivities but Northern Ireland remains a low flying area.”

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