British Forces Germany
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Template:British Army The British Forces Germany (BFG) is the successor of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG) which were disbanded in 1994 after the end of the Cold War.
The BAOR was composed of four divisions which formed I Corps but the BFG was considerably reduced from such number; it is now comprised of three main armoured brigades and 1st (UK) Armoured Division whose HQ is based in Herford near Bielefeld. In addition to this, there are many garrison units located at Gutersloh, Hohne, Osnabruck and Paderborn.
The United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) has responsibility for all units, of all three services, on the continent which are not part of 1 (UK) Division. The British Forces Liaison Organisation (Germany) is responsible for negotiations and relations with German authorities. The RAF presence has virtually disappeared, now reduced to just RAF Nordhorn, a bombing and gunnery range. The last operational base, RAF Brüggen, was closed in 2002.
The current BFG total is about 55,000 people, although only 25,000 are actual serving personnel. The equipment level of the BFG is rather high, with 216 Challenger 2 MBTs, 306 Warrior APCs, 66 AS-90 Braveheart howitzers, 18 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, over 1,000 other armoured personnel carriers, and 12 Gazelle and Lynx helicopters. The main areas of British presence are North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.
During the height of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, the IRA targeted the BFG between 1988 and 1990 and its personnel; the attacks resulted in the deaths of 9 people, including three civilians, and many more wounded.
The British presence in Germany is vitally important to British interests. The Army is able to carry out large-scale armoured warfare training and also allows the Army to be rapidly deployed abroad as seen during the Kosovo War in 1999 and during the preparations for war with Iraq in 2003. The British presence is also important to the German economy, especially to specific communities dependent upon the BFG for eomployment and local buisnesses. According to the BBC [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3842031.stm) the BFG presence contributes ?1.5 billion Euros annually to the German economy.
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Major Units as of 2005
4th Armoured Brigade
- 204 Signal Squadron
- 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards
- Royal Dragoon Guards
- 1st Battalion, Scots Guards
- 1st Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's Regiment
- 21st Regiment, Royal Engineers
- 1st Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
- 4th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery
7th Armoured Brigade
- 207 Signal Squadron
- The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys)
- 2nd Royal Tank Regiment
- 1st Battalion, The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons)
- 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
20th Armoured Brigade
- 200 Signal Squadron
- The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish)
- 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Wales
- 1st Battalion, The Light Infantry
102nd Logistics Brigade
- 6 Supply Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
- 7 Transport Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
- 8 Transport Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
- 5 Regiment, Royal Military Police
- 34 Field Hospital
Garrison Units
- 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's)
- 1 Regiment, Army Air Corps
- A (29) Close Support Medical Squadron, Royal Army Medical Corps
- 12 Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 26 Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 1st Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
- 2nd Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
- 3rd Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
- 21 Engineer Regiment
- 28 Engineer Regiment
- 32 Engineer Regiment (The Assault Engineers)
- 35 Engineer Regiment
- 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery
- 1 General Support Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
- 2 General Support Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
- 6 Supply Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
- 7 Transport Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
- 7 Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
- 16 Tank Transporter Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps
- 1st Regiment, Royal Military Police
- 110 Provost Company, Royal Military Police
- 111 Provost Company, Royal Military Police
- 115 Provost Company, Royal Military Police
- 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division Signal Regiment