Infantry: December 7, 2001

Archives

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon announced in a speech on 5 December that a defense review of the UK's armed forces following the 11 September attacks had shown the need for an urgent reorganization. While the SAS and the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) will remain virtually unchanged (for fear that their expertise would be diluted if they were enlarged), a new tier of special forces will be formed as part of a $150 million program. 

This plan will bolster Britain's 2,000-strong rapid-reaction force (currently dominated by marines and paratroopers) by about 1,800 more elite infantry. Hoon wants entire infantry regiments retrained to create more elite units. 

Since 1996, their Territorial Army (TA) units (equivalent to the US Army National Guard) have been sent to serve abroad as much as possible. Hoon will say this week that it should make "homeland defence" its priority. - Adam Geibel

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close