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

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, 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 ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. 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 Engine ...

, though employs members from many other cap badges.

History

Following the

Fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

, and subsequent

Dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

, and I (British) Corps were disbanded in 1994. Later that year, at Joint Headquarters Rheindahlen, the

Allied Rapid Reaction Corps The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) is a rapid reaction force maintained by NATO. It is capable of deploying a High Readiness Force (Land) Headquarters at short notice for operations and crisis response. History The ARRC was created on 1 ...

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 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 forces. It was formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1993; its units and tr ...

, 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 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 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 strategy was ...

, and subsequent

Army 2020 Army 2020 is the restructuring of the British Army in the early and mid-2010s, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. The plan, as its name suggested, was intended to be completed by 2020, though most of its reorganisations ...

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 ...

, and subsequent Army 2020 Refine, the ARRC is due to be expanded. As part of these changes, the battalion will become a full

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...

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

.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 Unit ...

and QOGLR ) ** Catering Troop,

** Light Aid Detachment,

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

** 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) ** Power Troop (

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

) ** 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