The Gurkha Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Support Battalion, or simply the Gurkha ARRC Support Battalion (Gurkha ARRC Sp Bn) is a

combat support In the United States Army, the term combat support refers to units that provide fire support and operational assistance to combat elements. Combat support units provide specialized support functions to combat units in the following areas * Chemi ...

unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

, and one of only threeThe other two being the ARRC MP Battalion (Army Reserve), and 280 (UK) Sign Sqn. units permanently assigned to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. For administrative purposes, the Gurkha ARRC Support Battalion falls under the oversight of the

Royal Logistic Corps The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army. History The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: * Royal Engin ...

, though employs members from many other cap badges.

History

Following the

Fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of ...

, and subsequent Dissolution of the Soviet Union, the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility locate ...

, and

I (British) Corps I Corps ("First Corps") was an army corps in existence as an active formation in the British Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in the First World War until the end of the Cold War, longer than any other corps. It had a short-lived ...

were disbanded in 1994. Later that year, at

Joint Headquarters Rheindahlen JHQ (Joint Headquarters) Rheindahlen was a military base in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany active from 1954 to 2013. It functioned as the main headquarters for British forces in Germany and for the NATO Northern Army Group. La ...

, the

Allied Rapid Reaction Corps The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization High Readiness Force (Land) Headquarters ready for deployment worldwide. History The ARRC was created on 1 October 1992 in Bielefeld based on the former I (British ...

was formed as a static multinational three-star command. As part of this new corps, two new units were formed to be directly subordinated;

280 (United Kingdom) Signal Squadron __NOTOC__ Year 280 (Roman numerals, CCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Messalla and Gratus (or, less frequently ...

and the Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Support Battalion. This new unit was formed through the redesignation of the old 1st British Corps Regiment,

Royal Corps of Transport The Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) was a British Army Corps established to manage all matters in relation to the transport of men and material for the Army and the wider Defence community. It was formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1993; its units and ...

, itself formed through the amalgamation of 14 Transport Troop, and 170 Pioneer Headquarters Squadron. After formation, the new battalion was based at Ripon Barracks, Bielefeld, however the next year it moved to Ripon Lines, in Rheindahlen. In 1994, 14 Squadron absorbed 68 Squadron. In 1995, the battalion was renamed as the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Support Battalion. And then sometime after 1995, the battalion was assigned to

1st (United Kingdom) Signal Brigade The 1st Signal Brigade, formerly known as the 1st Signal Group, is a brigade of the British Army. The group was first formed in 1968 as a result of the 1966 Defence White Paper which expanded support for NATO and the British Army of the Rhine. ...

; the United Kingdom's only star command assigned to the ARRC directly. In 2010, as part of the

Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 was announced by the newly formed Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of the United Kingdom in May 2010, and published on 19 October 2010. The previous major review of UK defence strate ...

, and subsequent

Army 2020 Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Background The British Government gave an indication of its proposals for the future structure of the Army in ea ...

announcement, all British troops were to withdraw from Germany by 2020. Therefore, in October 2010 the battalion along with HQ ARRC, moved to their current base at Imjin Barracks, Innsworth. In 2015, after another defence and security review, called the

Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 The National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 was published by the British government during the second Cameron ministry on 23 November 2015 to outline the United Kingdom's defence strategy up to 2025. It identified k ...

, and subsequent

Army 2020 Refine Army 2020 Refine was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. Army 2020 Refine The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 announced that the structure of the Reacti ...

, the ARRC is due to be expanded. As part of these changes, the battalion will become a full

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Go ...

unit. The battalion's current role is to provide enabling and force protection support to the ARRC NATO Warfighting HQ on all operations. The Battalion is currently at very high readiness, ready to deploy, build and sustain the ARRC HQ anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice. The battalion is equipped in a similar way to the mechanised infantry units of the army and close support units, armed with the Mastiff PPV and the 15 Tonne MAN truck system. In August 2021, the battalion added the subtitle 'Gurkha'. Though the battalion has had Gurkhas for many years, it is now officially been subsumed into the

Brigade of Gurkhas The Brigade of Gurkhas is the collective name which refers to all the units in the British Army that are composed of Nepalese Gurkha soldiers. The brigade draws its heritage from Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Army ...

.British Army,
August 2021 Soldier Magazine
'. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

Current Composition

Below is the current composition of the battalion: * Battalion Headquarters * Headquarters Squadron ** Squadron Headquarters ** Signals Troop,(

Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unite ...

and QOGLR ) ** Catering Troop,

** Light Aid Detachment, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers ** Quartermaster's Department * 14 Squadron ** Squadron Headquarters ** Close Support Troop (provides an assault pioneer capability and force protection to HQ ARRC, provided by the

and

Queen's Gurkha Engineers The 36 Engineer Regiment is a regiment of the Corps of Royal Engineers within the British Army. The regiment trace their history back to before World War II as 36 Army Engineer Regiment. The regiment today is a general support engineer regiment ...

) ** Power Troop ( Royal Engineers) ** Transport Troop (

and Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment) ** Forward Support Troop ( RLC, QOGLR and Queen’s Gurkha Engineers (QGE))

Footnotes

Notes Citations Military units and formations established in 1993 Regiments of the Royal Logistic Corps