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==Royal Air Force==
==Royal Air Force==
===Strike Command===
===Strike Command===
* Withdrawal of the Blackburn Buccaneer strike aircraft and the disbandment of the [[RAF Lossiemouth]]-based No's [[No. 12 Squadron RAF|12]] and [[No. 208 Squadron RAF|208]] Squadrons and No. 237 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU).
* Withdrawal of the [[Blackburn Buccaneer]] strike aircraft and the disbandment of the [[RAF Lossiemouth]]-based No's [[No. 12 Squadron RAF|12]] and [[No. 208 Squadron RAF|208]] Squadrons and No. 237 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU).
* Closure of [[RAF Wattisham]] and transfer to the British Army, together with the withdrawal of the [[F-4 Phantom II|McDonnell Douglas Phantom]] from service and the disbandment of No's [[No. 56 Squadron RAF|56]] and [[No. 74 Squadron RAF|74]] Squadron's and the [[RAF Leuchars|Leuchars]]-based No. 228 OCU.
* Closure of [[RAF Wattisham]] and transfer to the British Army, together with the withdrawal of the [[F-4 Phantom II|McDonnell Douglas Phantom]] from service and the disbandment of No's [[No. 56 Squadron RAF|56]] and [[No. 74 Squadron RAF|74]] Squadron's and the [[RAF Leuchars|Leuchars]]-based No. 228 OCU.
* Closure of [[RAF Honington]] as a flying station with it to become the depot for the [[RAF Regiment]] replacing [[RAF Catterick]] which was transferred to the British Army. The [[Panavia Tornado|Panavia Tornado's]] of [[No. 13 Squadron RAF|No. 13 Squadron]] and the Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit relocating to [[RAF Marham]] and Lossiemouth respectively.
* Closure of [[RAF Honington]] as a flying station with it to become the depot for the [[RAF Regiment]] replacing [[RAF Catterick]] which was transferred to the British Army. The [[Panavia Tornado|Panavia Tornado's]] of [[No. 13 Squadron RAF|No. 13 Squadron]] and the Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit relocating to [[RAF Marham]] and Lossiemouth respectively.
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* Withdrawal of the remaining [[Handley Page Victor]] tankers, and the disbandment of [[No. 55 Squadron RAF|No. 55 Squadron]].
* Withdrawal of the remaining [[Handley Page Victor]] tankers, and the disbandment of [[No. 55 Squadron RAF|No. 55 Squadron]].
* A reduction of three [[Hawker Siddeley Nimrod|Nimrod]] maritime patrol aircraft, together with the disbandment of [[No. 42 Squadron RAF|No. 42 Squadron]] which merged with No. 236 OCU and relocated from [[RAF St Mawgan]] to [[RAF Kinloss]].
* A reduction of three [[Hawker Siddeley Nimrod|Nimrod]] maritime patrol aircraft, together with the disbandment of [[No. 42 Squadron RAF|No. 42 Squadron]] which merged with No. 236 OCU and relocated from [[RAF St Mawgan]] to [[RAF Kinloss]].
* Withdrawal of the [[Bloodhound SAM]] and the disbandment of [[No. 85 Squadron RAF|No. 85 Squadron]].
* Withdrawal of the [[Bloodhound SAM]] and the disbandment of [[No. 85 Squadron RAF|No. 85 Squadron]].

===RAF Germany===
===RAF Germany===
* Closure of [[RAF Wildenrath]] in April 1992 and [[RAF Gutersloh]] in March 1993, halving the number of RAF bases in Germany.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/rafhistorytimeline199099.cfm|title=RAF Timeline 1990–99|publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]|access-date=9 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924124845/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/rafhistorytimeline199099.cfm|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Closure of [[RAF Wildenrath]] in April 1992 and [[RAF Gutersloh]] in March 1993, halving the number of RAF bases in Germany.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/rafhistorytimeline199099.cfm|title=RAF Timeline 1990–99|publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]|access-date=9 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924124845/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/rafhistorytimeline199099.cfm|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Revision as of 07:52, 29 December 2022

Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.[1]

Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, with the Royal Marines in Scandinavia, the Royal Air Force (RAF) in West Germany and over the North Sea, the Royal Navy in the Norwegian Sea and North Atlantic, and the British Army in Germany.[2]

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact occurring between 1989 and 1991, a Soviet invasion of Western Europe no longer seemed likely. While the restructuring was criticised by several British politicians, it was an exercise mirrored by governments in almost every major Western military power: the so-called peace dividend.[3]

Total manpower was cut by approximately 18 per cent to around 255,000 (120,000 army; 60,000 navy; 75,000 air force).[1]

Other casualties of the restructuring were the UK's nuclear civil defence organisations, the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation, and its field force, the Royal Observer Corps (a part-time volunteer branch of the RAF), both disbanded between September 1991 and December 1995.[4]

British Army

Royal Corps of Signals

Royal Armoured Corps

Overall the Royal Armoured Corps was a merger of 18 regiments, this was to achieved by the formation of 10 new regiments through amalgamations and new formations.

Bands

Regulars

Territorial Army

Infantry

Royal Artillery

Corps of Royal Engineers

Regulars

  • Commander Royal Engineers (Airfields) formed to control non-deployable royal engineer airfield elements at RAF bases in the UK
  • 29th (Volunteer) Engineer Brigade along with its signal troop disbanded
  • 30th (Volunteer) Engineer Brigade along with its signal troop disbanded
  • 26th Engineer Regiment disbanded
  • 1st Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment formed by amalgamation of the Depot Regiment, Royal Engineers and 12th Royal School of Military Engineer Regiments, Royal Engineers
  • 3rd Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment formed by amalgamation of 1st Training and 3rd Training Regiments, Royal Engineers

Territorial Army

Other Corps

Royal Air Force

Strike Command

RAF Germany

RAF Germany itself was disbanded on 1 April 1993, being downgraded to group-level and becoming No. 2 Group of Strike Command.

Procurement

  • Cancelling the Brimstone air-to-surface missile project (later restarted).

Royal Navy

On television

A dramatisation of the effects that Options for Change had on the ordinary men and women serving in the armed forces came in the ITV series Soldier Soldier. The fictional infantry regiment portrayed in the series, the King's Fusiliers, was one of those selected for amalgamation. It showed the whole process of negotiation over traditions, embellishments, etc. between the two regiments involved, and the uncertainty that many of those serving felt for their jobs in the light of two separate battalions merging into one, with the resulting loss of manpower.

See also

Notes


References

  1. ^ a b "Defence (Options for Change)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 25 July 1990. col. 468–486.
  2. ^ Freedman, Lawrence (18 August 1999). The Politics of British Defence, 1979–97. Macmillan Press. ISBN 0-333746-67-8.
  3. ^ Clements, Benedict J.; Schiff, Jerald Alan; Debaere, Peter; Davoodi, Hamid Reza (1 July 1999). Military Spending, the Peace Dividend, and Fiscal Adjustment. International Monetary Fund. ISBN 978-1-4518-9700-5.
  4. ^ "End of the Long Lookout". The Herald. Glasgow. 29 December 1995. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  5. ^ "British Army Roll of Regiments 1995". 17 December 2007. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Regiments & Corps of the British Territorial Army 1995". 17 December 2007. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  7. ^ "British Army units from 1945 on - Welcome". british-army-units1945on.co.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  8. ^ Much information also from the regimental histories available at the army website
  9. ^ The term 'union' was used rather than amagalamation, as the regiment continued to maintain their own uniforms, traditions, and regimental titles in the mounted regiment
  10. ^ "RAF Timeline 1990–99". Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
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