Roulement is a term used by the British Army to signify major combat units (usually battalion strength) that are deployed on short tours of duty, normally for six months. It is also used in the wider British military to mean the deployment of a strength of personnel on continuing operations. Translated from the French language, roulement means "rolling".
The British Army has historically deployed infantry battalions for 6-month and 24-month roulement tours of Northern Ireland. Other corps such as the Royal Armoured Corps (R.A.C.), when being used as infantry, are deployed only on 4-month tours. During Operation Banner, this was more to do with the cost of re-training back to role than any operational reason. An R.A.C. crewman cost an estimated £500,000 to train and skills were lost during any longer tour. Royal Marine commando battalions and Royal Artillery serving as infantry in Northern Ireland are also roulement units. [1] [2]
The British Army deployed roulement units to Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick. The British Army currently deploys roulement units to the Falkland Islands and to Cyprus on Operation TOSCA with the United Nations. [3]
The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the British Army. It is separate from the Regular Reserve whose members are ex-Regular personnel who retain a statutory liability for service. The Army Reserve was known as the Territorial Force from 1908 to 1921, the Territorial Army (TA) from 1921 to 1967, the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) from 1967 to 1979, and again the Territorial Army (TA) from 1979 to 2014.
The Irish Army, known simply as the Army, is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 7,300 people served in the Irish Army on a permanent basis as of May 2016, and there were 1,600 active reservists, divided into two geographically organised brigades. By late September 2020, this had reduced to 6,878 permanent army personnel.
The Welsh Guards, part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V. Shortly after the regiment's formation, it was deployed to France where it took part in the fighting on the Western Front until the end of the war in November 1918. During the inter-war years, the regiment undertook garrison duties in the United Kingdom, except 1929–1930 when it deployed to Egypt, and late 1939 when it deployed to Gibraltar.
The Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales') (or simply "Staffords" for short) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment was formed in 1959 by the amalgamation of the South Staffordshire Regiment and the North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales'), and in 2007 was amalgamated with the Cheshire Regiment and the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment to become the 3rd Battalion, Mercian Regiment.
The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled Delivering Security in a Changing World, set out the future structure of the British military, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, which responded to the immediate challenges to security in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001. Published under the then Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon, the report effectively introduced a series of cutbacks to core equipment and manpower and the scaling back of a series of future capital procurement projects. This was justified due to the implementation of a policy termed Network Enabled Capability. The review also outlined a major restructuring and consolidation of British Army Infantry regiments.
The Royal Anglian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating in the British Army, and can trace its history back to 1685. The regiment was the first of the large infantry regiments and is one of the three regiments of the Queen's Division.
The Royal Irish Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was founded in 1992 through the amalgamation of the Royal Irish Rangers and the Ulster Defence Regiment. Their oldest predecessor, the 27th Regiment of Foot, was first raised in June 1689 to fight in the Williamite War in Ireland. Other notable regiments in their lineage include the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
The Royal Regiment of Wales was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. It was formed in 1969 by the amalgamation of the South Wales Borderers and the Welch Regiment. The 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Wales had a short existence in military terms, just over 36 years. Within two months of amalgamation, the battalion was one of the first units to be deployed to Northern Ireland.
The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment served as the county regiment for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire.
The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army.
The 52nd Lowland Volunteers is a battalion in the British Army's Army Reserve or reserve force in the Scottish Lowlands, forming the 6th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as 6 SCOTS. Due to its erstwhile association with the 1st Regiment of Foot, it is the senior Reserve line infantry battalion in the British Army. It is one of two Reserve battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, along with 51st Highland, a similar unit located in the Scottish Highlands.
The British Army primarily divides its infantry into regiments, which are subdivided into battalions. However, for various reasons, since the end of the Second World War it has also maintained companies that are intended to provide increments and reinforcements.
The 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, previously the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, is an armoured infantry brigade formation of the British Army, currently headquartered at Wing Barracks, Bulford, Wiltshire, as part of the 3rd Division.
The 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade is a brigade of the British Army which is intended to train and assist foreign forces. In 2021, under the Future Army changes, the brigade was redesignated, formerly being the 11th Infantry Brigade & HQ South East. Prior to the Army 2020 changes in 2013, the brigade was temporarily activated for deployment to Afghanistan, and before that engaged during the two World Wars.
The 47th (London) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed during the Second World War and remained in the United Kingdom until the end of the war. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a significant military power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. The 2nd London Division was formed in August 1939 as a second-line duplicate of the 1st London Division; its battalions were all initially London-based.
The 19th Brigade is an Army Reserve brigade of the British Army. As the 19th Infantry Brigade it fought in the First and Second world wars.
The 61st Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1939 as part of the expansion of the Territorial Army in response to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The division was created as a duplicate of the 48th Infantry Division, and was assigned to home defence duties.
The 4th Battalion, Parachute Regiment, is an Army Reserve unit of the British Army. Now recruiting across the United Kingdom originally the Battalion covered the North of England, with its headquarters located in Pudsey, West Yorkshire. Following the Options for Change review in 1993, 4 PARA amalgamated with the 15th (Scottish) Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, which was downsized and became 15 (Scottish) Company of 4 PARA. As part of further changes in 1999, the Battalion also merged with the 10th (Volunteer) Battalion which then became 10 (London) Company.
The 4th Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It was formed in 1939 as 4th Regiment Royal Horse Artillery before being redesignated in 1961. It is currently based at Alanbrooke Barracks in Topcliffe and serves in the light field artillery role, equipped with 105mm light guns.
15 Air Assault Support Squadron is a British Army logistic squadron, currently under 13 Air Assault Support Regiment RLC.