1st Artillery Brigade and Headquarters South West

1st Artillery Brigade and Headquarters South West
Insignia of 1st Artillery Brigade and Headquarters South West
Active	1 September 2014 -
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Role	Regional Command and Artillery fire support
Part of	Force Troops Command
Garrison/HQ	Jellalabad Barracks, Tidworth Camp
Equipment	GMLRS, AS-90 self-propelled guns and L118 light guns
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier J R Mead OBE

The British Army's 1st Artillery Brigade and Headquarters South West is a formation under Force Troops Command that has control over close support artillery units within the British Army and is the Regional Point of Command (RPoC) for British Army units in the South West Region.^[1][2]

History

The current brigade was formed on 1 September 2014 under the Army 2020 plan, merging units and personnel of 43 (Wessex) Brigade with Royal Artillery regiments.^[3] The brigade's mission will include commanding, preparing and generating assigned deployable forces. The brigade comprises a large number of units including 1 Royal Horse Artillery and 19 Regiment Royal Artillery^[4] and 15 garrisons and stations across the south west.^[5]

Previously, news articles reported that its personnel had control over the testing the Watchkeeper Remotely Piloted Aerial System.^[6][7] There was also a 1st Artillery Brigade under the I British Corps during the Cold War.

Structure

The brigade consists of the following units:

• 1st Artillery Brigade and Headquarters South West in Tidworth
  • 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in Larkhill with AS-90 155mm self-propelled howitzers and GMLRS multiple rocket launchers (provides offensive joint fire support to 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade)
  • 19th Regiment Royal Artillery in Larkhill with AS-90 155mm self-propelled howitzers and GMLRS multiple rocket launchers (provides offensive joint fire support to 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade)
  • 26th Regiment Royal Artillery in Larkhill with AS-90 155mm self-propelled howitzers and GMLRS multiple rocket launchers (provides offensive joint fire support to 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade)
  • 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery in Gateshead (Army Reserve - paired with 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery and 1st, 19th and 26th regiments)
  • 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in Albemarle with L118 105mm towed howitzers
  • 105th Regiment Royal Artillery in Edinburgh (Army Reserve - paired with 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery) with L118 105mm towed howitzers
  • 4th Regiment Royal Artillery in Topcliffe with L118 105mm towed howitzers
  • 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment Royal Artillery in St Helens (Army Reserve - paired with 4th Regiment Royal Artillery) with L118 105mm towed howitzers

The 1st Artillery Brigade also has administrative control over the units in the Joint Ground-Based Air Defence Command.

External links

• Main Website

References

1. "Army 2020 Report, pages 10-12" (PDF). Retrieved 19 December 2014.
2. "Regular Army Basing Announcement, page 1" (PDF). Retrieved 19 December 2014.
3. "43 (Wessex) Brigade Lowers Flag For Last Time". Forces TV. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
4. "Change of Command Parade in South West of England - British Army Website". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
5. "Garrisons and stations". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
6. "Army cleared to fly next-generation eye-in-the-sky". gov.uk. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
7. Tony Osborne (15 May 2014). "British Pilots Finally Training On Watchkeeper". Aviation Week. Retrieved 19 December 2014.