Options for Change

Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in 1990, aimed at cutting defence spending following the end of the Cold War.

The UK military strategy had until this point been almost entirely focused on defending the UK against the Soviet military; whether the Royal Marines in Scandinavia, the Royal Air Force in West Germany or over the North Sea, the Royal Navy in the Norwegian Sea and North Atlantic, or the British Army in Germany. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact these scenarios were no longer relevant. While criticised both before and after, it was an exercise mirrored by governments of almost every major western military power, the so-called "peace dividend".

Among the changes implemented was the cutting total manpower by approximately 18% to around 255,000 (120,000 British Army; 60,000 Royal Navy; 75,000 Royal Air Force). Another major casualty of Options for Change was the UK's combined 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 of which were wound down and disbanded between September 1991 and December 1995.

British Army

Halving the troop strength in Germany by replacing the British Army of the Rhine with British Forces Germany in 1994.
Several British Army regiments amalgamated:

Infantry

The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) - 1 battalion
- The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons)
- The Gordon Highlanders
The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (Queen's and Royal Hampshires) - 2 battalions
- The Queen's Regiment
- The Royal Hampshire Regiment
The Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment - 1 battalion
- The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment
- The Gloucestershire Regiment
The Royal Gurkha Rifles - 3 battalions (later reduced to two)
The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment) - 2 general service battalions (later reduced to one)
- The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th)
- The Ulster Defence Regiment
In addition, seven regiments each lost a battalion:

The amalgamation of the Royal Scots and King's Own Scottish Borderers into the Royal Scots Borderers (1 battalion) and the Cheshire Regiment and Staffordshire Regiment into the Cheshire and Staffordshire Regiment (1 battalion) was announced, but suspended in 1994.

Household Cavalry

The Household Cavalry Regiment (each retained regimental identity)
- The Life Guards
- The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons)

Royal Armoured Corps

Services

Royal Logistic Corps

Adjutant General's Corps

Royal Air Force

Halving the number of RAF bases in Germany to two
Withdrawing the F-4 Phantom II squadrons from service
Cancellation of the Brimstone missile, although it was later reinstated.

Royal Navy

Cutting the number of frigates and destroyers from around 50 to 40.

On television

A fictionalised portrayal of the effects of Options for Change on the ordinary men and women serving in the armed forces came in the ITV drama series Soldier Soldier. In this, the fictional infantry regiment portrayed in the series, the King's Fusiliers, was one of those selected for amalgamation. The series showed the whole process of negotiation regarding traditions, embellishments, etc. between the two regiments involved, and of 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.