Commander Field Army is a senior British Army officer who has responsibility for generating and preparing forces for current and contingency operations. He reports to the Chief of the General Staff who has executive responsibility for the higher command of the British Army. The Royal Navy equivalent is the Fleet Commander. The RAF's Deputy Commander (Operations) is the close equivalent of the two positions.
The responsibilities of the postholder were exercised through HQ Land Command from 1 April 1995 to 1 April 2008. From 1 April 2008, HQ Land Command, with elements of HQ Adjutant-General, became HQ Land Forces. From 1 November 2011, HQ Land Forces was subsumed within the new formation known as Army Headquarters.
On 23 November 2015, it was announced that the post of Commander Land Forces would be renamed as Commander Field Army as part of the Army Command Review. CFA will have four brigadiers working under him: Assistant Chief of Staff Commitments, Assistant Chief of Staff Support, Assistant Chief of Staff Warfare and Assistant Chief of Staff Training.
History and prospects
The headquarters was formed from Southern Command at Erskine Barracks near Fugglestone in 1968 and was initially referred to as HQ Army Strategic Command. In 1972, it became HQ UK Land Forces, and in 1995, it was renamed HQ Land Command.
HQ Land Command assumed control of almost all British Army combat and combat support troops on 1 April 1995. Three major exceptions were British Forces Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, and HQ Northern Ireland. In the last of those, the General Officer commanding reported to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for operations in support of the civil power. HQ Northern Ireland was reduced in status to 38th (Irish) Brigade on 1 January 2009.
On 1 April 2008, HQ Land Command amalgamated with HQ Adjutant General under 'Project Hyperion' and became HQ Land Forces. It moved from Erskine Barracks to the former RAF Andover site now known as Marlborough Lines on 23 June 2010.
Commander-in-Chief Land Forces (CINCLAND) also became the Standing Joint Commander (UK) or SJC(UK), responsible for overall command to Ministry of Defence contributions to national crisis response activities within the United Kingdom (excluding Northern Ireland).
Under a major army command reorganisation effective 1 November 2011 the Chief of the General Staff took direct command of the Army through a new structure, based at Andover and known as "Army Headquarters". Within this new organisation, the rank of Commander, Land Forces was shifted to that of a three-star instead of the former four-star rank. The post of Commander-in-Chief ceased to exist.
Following the Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010, the government announced significant changes to the structure of the formations under Land Forces that would be implemented in the years up to 2020:
Field Army: By 2020, the total withdrawal of British forces stationed in Germany will be complete, and the Army's operational structure will be formed around a total of five multi-role brigades (MRB); these will be taken from the two brigades currently stationed in Germany under 1st Armoured Division, and three of the four in the UK under 3rd Mechanised Division. To ensure costs are kept down, the MOD's proposal will be to station units as close as possible to training areas.
Regional Forces: While the regional forces elements have been retained at brigade level, with all ten regional brigades remaining as they are, the regional divisional HQs (2nd Division, 4th Division and 5th Division) were replaced with a single 2-star regional headquarters at Aldershot known as Support Command from Spring 2012.
This has been updated in the future plan commonly known as Army 2020. On 23 November 2015, it was announced that the post of Commander Land Forces would be renamed as Commander Field Army as part of the Army Command Review. CFA will have four brigadiers under his command, namely: Assistant Chief of Staff Commitments, Assistant Chief of Staff Support, Assistant Chief of Staff Warfare and Assistant Chief of Staff Training.
Divisions and Districts
Land Command was initially divided up into eight formations, each one commanded by a Major General, and several smaller units including the training units and training support units in Belize, Brunei, Canada (Suffield for armoured battlegroups and Wainwright for infantry units) and Kenya. Land Command was later divided in 2003, under the LANDmark reorganisation, into two suborganisations, Field Army and Regional Forces, that paralled the Cold War structure of UKLF. Commander Field Army had 2 deployable Divisions (1st Armoured Division, 3rd Mechanised Division), Theatre Troops, Joint Helicopter Command, and Training Support under him, while Commander Regional Forces was responsible for 3 regenerative Divisions (2nd Division, 4th Division, 5th Division), London District, and UK Support Command Germany. In 2007 it was announced that a new deployable divisional HQ would be established until at least 2011 as a means of meeting the UK's commitments to provide divisional HQs on a rotational basis to Regional Command (South) in Afghanistan and as the lead nation of Multi-National Division (South-East) in Iraq. This was based in York and formed around the re-established 6th Division.
HQs 2, 4, and 5 Divisions (originally referred to as Regenerative Divisions) effectively used to act as military districts in the UK itself and would only have been able to generate field formations in the event of a general war - these three divisions were disbanded in Spring 2012 and the component units were transferred to Support Command.
British Forces Germany formed the district HQ for personnel based in Germany that are not attached to military formations.
London District's most public concern is the administration of ceremonial units and provision of garrisons for such installations as the Tower of London. However, its primary responsibility is to maintain units directly for the defence of the capital.
The British Army has only seven genuinely operational, deployable brigade groups – the six incorporated in 1st Armoured Division and 3rd Mechanised Division, plus 16 Air Assault Brigade. 3 Commando Brigade, a Naval Service formation formed predominantly by units of the Royal Marines but with significant army support, is under the direct command of the Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET). In November 2007, the Ministry of Defence announced the temporary creation of another deployable brigade, designated as 11 Light Brigade, which commanded the Operation Herrick rotation between October 2009 and April 2010.
The numerous other ‘brigades’ within the new Support Command would be better described as regional districts whose function is to administer all Territorial Army units within their area and to coordinate the provision of support to the civil authority if necessary, as well as home defence tasks. An example was the coordination of military support the regional brigades did during the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001. The fourteen new Civil Contingency Response Forces (CCRFs), each parented by a TA infantry battalion, are also linked into this structure. They form force elements which may be called on, alongside regular units, by the established chain of command (Ministry of Defence, Army Headquarters, HQ Land Forces, Support Command and Regional Brigades) in the event of a request for military assistance by the civil authorities.
There are a number of specialist brigades which bring together under a single administrative apparatus several units performing similar functions. There are two logistic brigades 102 Logistic Brigade in Germany and 101 Logistic Brigade which contain logistic units to support the two deployable divisions directly. Additionally 104 Logistic Support Brigade operates the specialist units needed to deploy a force overseas such as pioneers, movements and port units. These brigades come under the authority of the GOC, Theatre Troops.
Under the new Army 2020 plan, the British Army will have at least 3 brigades that form a "Reaction Force", along with other brigades formed from a pool of forces called the "Adaptable Force."
In December 1989, Headquarters UK Land Forces at Wilton directed field forces through a three-star's command, UK Field Army. Many of the units stationed in the United Kingdom were to move immediately to Germany to reinforce British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in case of war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. For administrative purposes these units were under command of brigade HQ based in the UK during peacetime. Such reinforcement units are shown in the list below in italics followed by the higher command they were to reinforce in Germany in brackets.
North-Eastern District (Imphal Barracks, York)
2nd Infantry Division, York, (to reinforce I British Corps within 72 hours)
15th Infantry Brigade, Alanbrooke Barracks, Topcliffe
Queen's Own Yeomanry (TA), Newcastle upon Tyne, (80x Fox, 20x Spartan)
1st Btn, Yorkshire Volunteers (TA), York
2nd Btn, Yorkshire Volunteers (TA), York
6th Btn, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (TA), Newcastle upon Tyne
7th Btn, The Light Infantry (TA), Durham
8th Btn, The Light Infantry (TA), Wakefield
101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery, Newcastle upon Tyne, (18x FH-70, one battery with Blowpipe SAM)
24th Airmobile Brigade, Catterick
HQ & 210th Signal Squadron, Catterick
1st Btn, Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, Catterick
1st Btn, Green Howards, Catterick
3rd Btn, The Light Infantry, Blackpool
27th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, Topcliffe, (24x FH-70)
51st Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, Catterick
9th Regiment, Army Air Corps, Dishforth, (24x Lynx AH.7, 12x Gazelle AH.1)
49th Infantry Brigade, Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell
Royal Yeomanry (TA), Chelsea, (80x Fox, 20x Spartan)
3rd Btn, Staffordshire Regiment (TA), Wolverhampton
5th Btn, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (TA), Coventry
5th Btn, The Light Infantry (TA), Shrewsbury
5th Btn, Royal Anglian Regiment (TA), Peterborough
7th Btn, Royal Anglian Regiment (TA), Leicester
100th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery, London, (18x FH-70, D battery with Blowpipe SAM)
5th Btn, Royal Green Jackets (TA), Oxford
4th Btn, Queen's Lancashire Regiment (TA), Preston
38th Regiment, Royal Engineers, Ripon
655th Squadron, Army Air Corps, Ballykelly, Northern Ireland
South-Western District (Bulford Camp)
Allied Command Europe Mobile Force assigned units:
2nd Btn, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, Bulford Camp, Light Role
1st Infantry Brigade, Tidworth, United Kingdom Mobile Force, dedicated to the defence of Schleswig-Holstein under LANDJUT
Royal Hussars, Tidworth, (43x Chieftain)
13th/18th Royal Hussars, Tidworth, (48x FV107 Scimitar)
1st Btn, Queen's Regiment, Tidworth, (45x Saxon)
1st Btn, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, Bulford, (45x Saxon)
2nd Btn, The Light Infantry, Tidworth, (45x Saxon)
1st Btn, The Wessex Regiment (TA), Devizes
47th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, Thorney Island, (24x FH-70
22nd Engineer Regiment, Perham Down
656th Squadron, Army Air Corps (7th Rgt, AAC), (6x Lynx AH.7, 6x Gazelle AH.1)
43rd (Wessex) Brigade, Wyvern Barracks, Exeter, guards channel ports
1st Btn, Royal Regiment of Wales, Warminster, Infantry Demonstration Unit
94th Locating Regiment, Royal Artillery, Larkhill (Target Acquisition) (to 1st Artillery Brigade)
Royal Wessex Yeomanry (TA), Light Reconnaissance
6th Btn, The Light Infantry (TA), Bath
4th Btn, Devonshire and Dorset Regiment (TA), Exeter
South-Eastern District (Aldershot)
2nd (Southeast) Infantry Brigade, Shorncliffe, guards channel ports
2nd Btn, Royal Green Jackets, Dover, Light Role
5th Btn, Queen's Regiment (TA), Canterbury (to 20th Armoured Brigade)
6th/7th Btn, Queen's Regiment (TA), Horsham
2nd Btn, Wessex Regiment (TA), Reading
5th Airborne Brigade, Aldershot, may reinforce any NATO command
Life Guards, Windsor, (48x FV107 Scimitar)
1st Btn, Parachute Regiment, Aldershot
2nd Btn, The Parachute Regiment, Aldershot
1st Btn, 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles, Church Crookham
1st Btn, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, Canterbury
7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery, Aldershot, (24x Light Gun)
658th Squadron, Army Air Corps (7th Rgt, AAC), (6x Lynx AH.7, 6x Gazelle AH.1)
Eastern District (Flagstaff House, Colchester Garrison)
19th Infantry Brigade, Colchester, (to join 4th Armoured Division within 48 hours after receiving marching orders)
HQ & 209th Signal Squadron, Colchester
1st Btn, King's Own Royal Border Regiment, Colchester, (45x Saxon)
1st Btn, Royal Anglian Regiment, Colchester, (45x Saxon)
3rd Btn, Royal Anglian Regiment, Colchester, (45x Saxon)
45th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, Colchester, (24x FH-70)
9th/12th Royal Lancers, Wimbish, (48x FV107 Scimitar) (to 4th Armoured Division)
54th (East Anglian) Infantry Brigade, Prince William of Gloucester Barracks, Grantham, guards RAF/USAF bases
1st Btn, Royal Highland Fusiliers, Cambridge (71x FV432)
Queen's Own Mercian Yeomanry (TA), Light Reconnaissance
3rd Btn, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (TA), Newark-on-Trent
3rd Btn, Yorkshire Volunteers (TA), Huddersfield
4th Btn, Yorkshire Volunteers (TA), Sheffield
4th Btn, Parachute Regiment (TA), Leeds (to Parachute Regiment Group, 1st Armoured Division)
6th Btn, Royal Anglian Regiment (TA), Bury St Edmunds
16th Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, Kirton in Lindsey (48x towed Rapier missile systems) (to 1st Artillery Brigade)
North-Western District (Fulwood Barracks, Preston)
42nd (Northwest) Infantry Brigade, Chester, guards Merseyside Ports
3rd Btn, The Light Infantry, Blackpool, Light Role
Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry (TA), Chorley, (80x Fox, 20x Spartan)
4th Btn, King's Own Royal Border Regiment (TA), Lancaster
5th/8th Btn, King's Regiment (TA), Warrington (to 4th Armoured Division)
3rd Btn, Cheshire Regiment (TA), Runcorn
103rd (V) Lancashire Artillery, Royal Artillery, Liverpool (64x Javelin) (to 1st Artillery Brigade)
Scotland District (The Castle, Edinburgh)
51st (Highland) Infantry Brigade, Perth, guards the Northern Scottish RAF bases
1st Btn, Gordon Highlanders, Fort George, Light Role
1st Btn, 51st Highland Volunteers (TA), Perth (to 11th Armoured Brigade)
2nd Btn, 51st Highland Volunteers (TA), Elgin (to 4th Armoured Division)
3rd Btn, 51st Highland Volunteers (TA), Peterhead
52nd (Lowland) Infantry Brigade, Edinburgh, guards the Southern Scottish RAF bases
1st Btn, King's Own Scottish Borderers, Edinburgh, Light Role
1st Btn, 52nd Lowland Volunteers (TA), Glasgow (to 4th Armoured Division)
2nd Btn, 52nd Lowland Volunteers (TA), Edinburgh
15th Btn, Parachute Regiment (TA), Glasgow (to Parachute Regiment Group, 1st Armoured Division)
105th (V) Scottish) Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, Edinburgh (80x Javelin) (to I British Corps)
London District (Horse Guards, Whitehall)
56th (London) Infantry Brigade, London, home defence
Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, Hyde Park Barracks
1st Btn, Coldstream Guards, Wellington Barracks
1st Btn, Irish Guards, Chelsea Barracks
1st Btn, Welsh Guards, Victoria Barracks
2nd Btn, Grenadier Guards, Caterham Barracks
2nd Btn, Scots Guards, Cavalry Barracks
Honourable Artillery Company, Finsbury (to Corps Patrol Unit, 1 (Br) Corps)
4th Btn, Royal Green Jackets (TA), London (to 1st Armoured Division)
8th (V) Btn, Queen's Fusiliers, Clapham (to 1st Artillery Brigade)
10th Btn, Parachute Regiment (TA), London (to Parachute Regiment Group, 1st Armoured Division)
101st (London) Engineer Regiment (V), London
Western District (Copthorne Barracks, Shrewsbury)
143rd (West Midlands) Infantry Brigade, Shrewsbury, home defence
1st Btn, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, Ternhill, (45x Saxon)
4th Btn, Worcestershire & Sherwood Foresters (TA), Redditch (to I British Corps)
104th (V) Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, Newport (80x Javelin) (to 1st Artillery Brigade)
30th Engineer Brigade, Stafford (to BAOR)
71st (Scottish) Engineer Regiment (V), Glasgow
72nd Engineer Regiment (V), Gateshead
73rd Engineer Regiment (V), Nottingham
74th Engineer Regiment (V), Northern Ireland
75th Engineer Regiment (V), Manchester
Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (V), Monmouth
Wales (The Barracks, Brecon)
160th (Welsh) Infantry Brigade, Brecon, guards Welsh ports
1st Btn, Cheshire Regiment, Chester, Light Role
3rd Btn, Royal Welch Fusiliers (TA), Wrexham
3rd Btn, Royal Regiment of Wales (TA), Cardiff (to 4th Armoured Division)
4th Btn, Royal Regiment of Wales (TA), Swansea
Special Air Service
21st SAS Regiment (TA), Chelsea
22nd SAS Regiment, Stirling Lines, Hereford
23rd SAS Regiment (TA), Birmingham
11th Signal Brigade, Stafford (to BAOR)
31st (City of London) Signal Regiment (V), London
33rd (Lancashire & Cheshire) Signal Regiment (V), Huyton
34 (Northern) Signal Regiment (V), Leeds (to I British Corps)
35th (South Midland) Signal Regiment (V), Coventry
36 (Eastern) Signal Regiment (V), Cambridge (to I British Corps)
40 (Ulster) Signal Regiment (V), Belfast (to I British Corps)
No. 666 Squadron AAC (7th Regt, Army Air Corps)
Jersey Field Squadron (Royal Militia of the Island of Jersey)
The current structure is as follows:
Commander Field Army: Lieutenant General Patrick Sanders
1st (United Kingdom) Division: Major General Giles Hill
4th Infantry Brigade
7th Infantry Brigade
11th Infantry Brigade
38th Infantry Brigade
42nd Infantry Brigade
51st Infantry Brigade
160th Infantry Brigade
102 Logistic Brigade
3rd (United Kingdom) Division: Major-General Nick Borton
1st Armoured Infantry Brigade
12th Armoured Infantry Brigade
20th Armoured Infantry Brigade
101 Logistic Brigade
Force Troops Command: Major General Tyrone Urch
104 Logistic Support Brigade
1 Signal Brigade
11 Signal Brigade
1st Artillery Brigade
Joint Ground-Based Air Defence Command
1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade
2 Medical Brigade
77th Brigade
8th Engineer Brigade
1st Military Police Brigade
Regional Command: Major-General Richard Stanford
British Gurkhas Nepal
Brunei Garrison
Aldershot Garrison
Colchester Garrison
Catterick Garrison
British Forces Germany: Brigadier Ian Bell
Westfalen Garrison
London District: Major General Benjamin Bathurst
Joint Helicopter Command: Major-General Richard Felton
16 Air Assault Brigade
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces (Prior to November 2011)
See Article Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces
Commander Land Forces (November 2011 to November 2015)
November 2011 - December 2012 General Sir Nick Parker
January 2013 - November 2013 Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Bradshaw
November 2013 - Lieutenant-General Sir Nick Carter
September 2014 - Lieutenant General Sir James Everard
Commander Field Army (Since November 2015)
November 2015 - Lieutenant General Sir James Everard
December 2016 - Lieutenant General Patrick Sanders
