 |
Reserves from The Royal Wessex Yeomanry (RWxY) have been demonstrating their growing capability to deliver support to the UK’s Rapid Reaction Force, by taking part in a live firing exercise on the Lulworth Ranges in Dorset. The Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks have been manned entirely by Reserve crews from squadrons based in Dorset, Devon, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. The troops took part in a live firing exercise, testing their abilities and ensuring they have the skills required to deploy as part of the UK’s Rapid Reaction Force. To the soldiers, who have been training using gunnery simulators, at Bovington or in Donnington, it was an inspiring experience and the culmination of months of hard work. Commanding Officer Lt Col Chris McGregor said: “We can train in simulated environments but there is nothing better for a soldier than getting in the equipment that they are going to have to use in conflict, potentially. "It really gives people an incentive to do all of the long and arduous training that is required to reach the standards needed to fire a vehicle like this.”
|
Simple question.
If you're using Reserves for your Rapid Deployment Force, how rapid can it be? Does the British Army use only full time reserves? If not then the force is a joke. I wonder if Think Defence Blog can clear up my confusion. More to come.
As part of a "reserve", I can safely say that it is 8 hours from the button being pushed to kit up and ready to move. Not all reserves are slow, depends on the unit, job and how hard is the government willing to crack the whip.
ReplyDeletenot saying that i disagree just saying that i've seen something totally different. i've seen national guard and reserve units that needed half a year to be declared combat ready. its too be expected. soldiering is hardly a part time job if you're going into the teeth of battle....but to expect a reserve unit to be part of a rapid deployment force really seems like a stretch if they're not full time.
DeleteThe USAR and Army National Guard have varying levels of readiness, same as the active duty Brigade Combat Teams. FORSCOM is in charge of providing Army forces to the Geographic COCOM, and FORSCOM has a set readiness standard before it will bless off on a unit going to combat (or there will be some high level meetings between Colonel, Div CDR, Corps CDR, and FORSCOM CDR to address the situation and mitigate risk for not meeting training gates).
ReplyDeleteBut, once a unit is "Task Force Certified" which means indivudal, crew, platoon, company level live fires with BN FTX and CTC rotation, then they are in the FORSCOM "ready pool" and can be put on recall notice. When a NG or USAR unit is NOT in the ready pool but needs activating, then they have to go through the training gates set by FORSCOM to be deployed to the Geographic COCOM. Task Force certification has to be renewed yearly as well, at least for active duty units.
So having a Reserve unit as part of a rapid reaction force is easily done, but you have to get them into the "ready pool" first, and that is the hard part.
ok. that makes complete sense. but riddle me this. how can part time soldiers attain that standard? i mean if they're working an average 9-5 during the week and then doing weekends...even if its every weekend, i don't see how they can even physically keep up. i'm not saying that they're not good soldiers but to meet the standards of professional soldiering means that its your everyday job. i just don't see how a part time group can do it.
DeleteIt's all well and good to have passed live fire training 9months ago, but if all you've done since then is sit at a desk eating doughnuts, the enemy may question just how combat ready you really are.
DeleteThat applies equally to regulars as reserves.
Part time Soldiers attain the standards by dedicating every drill weekend to a training gate until they have met all the training gates required to get to a CTC rotation (or equivalent depending on the size of the unit). Individual zero and qual. Team live fire. Squad Live fire. Platoon Live Fire. Company Live Fire (generally part of the 2 week summer training event).
DeleteI had a friend from college join a NG FA BN and he went to the field every drill for a year straight as they went through all the FA gunnery gates to be certified.
Once certification is attained, generally a lot of time is spent in the simulators maintaining proficiency until it is time to go through the trainup again.
The only thing bad about this tank is that there arent enough of them.
ReplyDeleteGood? Would you be so kind to describe what “good” you find in Challenger II?
DeleteFirst, let me ask you what do you find bad in it ? And let this conversation end there only.
DeleteThe guns supposed to be of somewhat challenged utility on a front on tank engagement. But if it comes to that you've cocked up already.
DeleteIts rifled barrel limits the more funky shells, hits though.
Peak Power to weight isn't great, but better across a range of speeds.
Personally I think its likely to be the most effective in a fire fight because its armoured like nothing else and people buy weapons designed to kill T72s, leopards and abrahms. If memory serves one immobilized crew sat there as iraqi insurgents fired 127 RPGs at them. Sure, top end weapons will kill it, but tend to be rarer than section / platoon kit.
I also like the leclerc.
Again, everyone expects tanks to have the logistical limitations of the big 3. If you don't, you basically own the initiative for the war.
That the Germans moved so quickly during the fall of France wasn't decisive in itself. The French high command just couldn't comprehend that the Germans werent months away, they were days away.
I thought the Brits had already passed a program to replace the Rifled with a Smoothbore ?
DeleteTalked about a lot, didn't check if it had actually happened
DeleteSol in answer to your question - this reserve unit is NOT part of any rapid reaction force.
ReplyDeleteThe single reserve heavy armour (Challenger 2) regiment is often referred to as battle casualty replacement unit, and is meant to provide trained crews and individual augmentees to the 3 full time regular army MBT regiments. The reserve regiment is not consituted, equipped or expected to be fielded as full tank regiment, but rather to provide some reserve bench strength to tank crews.
I think the use of the word "rapid" is a screw up by the journalist / press officer who wrote the article. UK army structure splits the regular component into the Reaction Force and the Adaptable Force. The Reaction Force is based around 3 brigades with a Challenger 2 regiment, 2 x Warrior IFV based infantry battalions, and a Mastiff based "mechanised" infantry battalion. The "Rapid Reaction" or intervention force is based on the ready Commando of the Royal Marines and the ready battalion battle group of the army's Airmobile brigade (i.e. 1 of the Parachute Regiment battalions). The Reaction Force probably has a "Spearhead" rapidly mobilised force based on a high readiness squadron of Challenger 2, a company of Warrior based infantry and supporting artillery and engineers to provide a small armoured battlegroup only. Hope that all makes sense.
Most of the reserve infantry units are now aligned with regular infantry battalions within the Adaptable force, as are the light armoured recce reserve units.