The Sponsored Reserves are a category of reserve forces in the
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...
, created by the
Reserve Forces Act 1996. It allows for certain support or specialist tasks to be carried out by trained professionals, who also maintain a civilian career. The
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
The RF ...
, for example, are sponsored reserves subject to the
Armed Forces Act.
The first sponsored reserve unit was the
Mobile Meteorological Unit, providing mainly aviation weather services to the
RAF and the
Army Air Corps.
Met Office press release
, metoffice.gov.uk Other Sponsored Reserve Units have been developed in line with the 1998 Strategic Defence Review.
See also
* Volunteer Reserves
* Regular Reserve
References
Reserve forces of the United Kingdom
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