The 1st Reconnaissance Brigade was a short-lived specialist formation of the British Army which administered the formation reconnaissance regiments not attached to a division or brigade, and was disbanded sometime between 2005 and 2006.[3]
Sometime after the publishing of the 1981 Defence White Paper "The Way Forward", the Screening Force (Corps Border Surveillance Force) was formed as an ad hoc brigade within I (British) Corps. Brigadier Royal Armoured Corps, British Army of the Rhine would become 'Commander Screening Force' on mobilisation.[4][5]
The force's objective, if mobilised, was to hold off a soviet frontal invasion for as long as possible until the 1st and 4th Armoured Divisions could be moved into position.[5] If mobilised, the brigade would control al the units of the division in the reconnaissance role and providing a reconnaissance/screening force.[6] On mobilisation, the force would have consisted:[6][5]
Brigadier, I (BR) Corps Royal Armoured Corps (Commander Screening Force)
The 1st Reconnaissance Brigade was established on 1 April 1997.[10]
The brigade might have been assigned to HQ Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.[11] Following the 2003 reorganisation of the Army under 'LANDmark', HQ Theatre Troops was formed to oversee the specialist brigades of the army.[12] The brigade soon joined HQ Theatre Troops, which it would remain under until disbanding in 2005-06, following the Future Army Structure programme.[13][14]
Ministry of Defence, Staff Officer's Handbook Number 71038, D/DGD&D/18/35/54, 1999.
James Tanner, The British Army since 2000, 2014 Osprey Publishing, Oxford, United Kingdom. ISBN978 178200 593 3.
Mackinlay, Gordon Angus (2007). "A Moment in Time": The British Army at a moment in time - 1 July 2007: A look at and from it of the Makeup of the Regular and Territorial Army. Self publish.
United Kingdom
British Army
