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View Full Version : Where are British troops and why?



ShadesWolf
07-15-2006, 17:32
While chating in one of the threads,a question was asked as to where were British troops stationed in Iraq and how many were there. I have just found this article on BBC website and thought to spare it with you. These figures are only rough as they are based on 1/1/6
I therefore am guessing that if the Army has approx 110,000 troops, then we must have about 60k in the UK of which 10k are in basic training (ie untrained)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/image_maps/06/1138000000/1138281768/img/brit_troop_click4map416.gif



OPERATIONAL
Gulf: 8,891
Afghanistan: 4,000
Bosnia: 598
Kosovo: 194
UN missions: 317


NON-OPERATIONAL
Germany: 22,500
Northern Ireland: 11,000
Cyprus: 2,761
Falkland Islands: 1,177
Gibraltar: 558
Ascension Island: 40
Diego Garcia: 39




IRAQ

By far the most high profile UK commitment overseas is Operation Telic - the name given to the deployment of 7,200 personnel in Iraq.

Since the end of the war in April 2003, they have been helping to restore essential infrastructure and services and provide security.

UK forces are largely based in the south of the country, mainly in Basra.

Although Basra was regarded as being more peaceful than the volatile capital Baghdad, a recent upsurge in violence has put British forces at the front line more often.

Ministers have been at pains to stress that Britain's commitment in Iraq would be maintained as long as we were needed.


AFGHANISTAN

At present the UK has about 4,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan, following a US-led invasion in October 2001.

British troops were part of the Nato effort to rebuild the country's infrastructure.

But in May this year the Army increased its involvement in the country, taking over from the US in the volatile south of the country as part of an expanded Nato presence.

The deployment is expected to peak at 4,500 in the coming months and the majority will be in Helmand - an area of major Taleban activity and opium production.

The enlarged deployment was predicted to cost £1bn over the three years that the Ministry of Defence expected it to last.

Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) mission will number about 15,000 soldiers when it reaches its peak.

KOSOVO
A small deployment - not more than about 200-strong - remains in Kosovo, helping to provide stability following the end of the conflict of the late 1990s.

The province is administered by the UN, which is working to reconcile the majority ethnic Albanians and the Serb minority.

Tensions continue to flare up however, and in March 2005 extra British troops were sent to the province at the request of Nato.


BOSNIA
As with Kosovo, the role of British armed forces in Bosnia is one of peacekeeping. At the beginning of this year, some 598 troops remained there.

A European Union-led force, Eufor, is responsible for safeguarding peace and stability following the inter-ethnic war of 1992-95, in which about 250,000 people died.


UN MISSIONS
The Ministry of Defence is involved in supporting a wide range of United Nations missions in countries around the world.

More than 300 British troops are deployed as part of the UN operations, in countries including Sierra Leone, Cyprus, Liberia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Georgia.

NORTHERN IRELAND
Some 11,000 British troops are still stationed in Northern Ireland, although their work is among those classed as non-operational.

According to the MoD earlier this year: "The mission of the armed forces in Northern Ireland is to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the defeat of terrorism and the maintenance of Public Order in order to assist Her Majesty's government's objective of returning Northern Ireland to normality."


GERMANY
Although much smaller than its deployment in Germany at the height of the Cold War, the UK retains about 22,000 troops in the country - its largest overseas contingent by far.

Germany provides an important base for training and many of the troops are involved in the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, of which Britain is the lead nation.


CYPRUS
Although Cyprus has been an independent republic since the 1960s, Britain retains two areas of sovereign territory on the island which it uses as bases for more than 2,000 troops.

Covering 98 square miles, the bases are used to give the UK a foothold at a strategic point in the Mediterranean.

In particular, the MoD describes RAF Akrotiri as "an important staging post for military aircraft".


FALKLAND ISLANDS
More than 20 years after the end of the Falklands War, Britain retains a strong presence on the islands, with more than 1,000 troops stationed there.

While the status of the British Overseas Territory is still disputed by Argentina, the personnel are also involved in tasks including road building and mine clearance.


GIBRALTAR
Considered an important base in the Mediterranean, Gibraltar is home to more than 500 British troops.

The MoD says the Rock is "well situated to observe shipping channels through the straits and it could dominate the western entrance to the Mediterranean in time of war".


ASCENSION ISLAND
In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, far-flung Ascension Island was used as a staging post during the Falklands War - a role it retains.

The 40 or so British troops there are linked to the UK by regular flights to RAF Brize Norton and a six-weekly cargo ship from the MoD.



DIEGO GARCIA
The British territory of Diego Garcia, in the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean, has been a military base since the island was leased to the US in the 1970s.

Fewer than 50 British personnel are stationed at the base at any one time.

King Ragnar
07-15-2006, 18:25
Well they should be N Ireland, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands and Germany all the other countries we shouldnt be in, i really couldnt care less about the other countries.

Duke Malcolm
07-15-2006, 18:30
I thought we had many more troops on our 98 square miles of Cyprus...

Husar
07-15-2006, 19:55
Now i wonder whether I should feel invaded and found a freedom fighter-organization to throw the british occupants out of Germany.~;)
Nah, you´re always welcome.:2thumbsup:

Also, German troops are in many countries as well, makes me curious ehther I can find some similar map...

http://www.einsatz.bundeswehr.de/C1256F200023713E/CurrentBaseLink/W26N5M56184INFODE/$FILE/20060601_weltkarte.jpg

there it is, from an official German army homepage.

This tells me two things:

1. you brits are not alone.~;)

2. I´m happy that our army tries to use my tax money to help people in other countries to live in peace. They have nothing to do here most of the time anyway, so instead of sitting around they can go and get some experience and try to help others, even if that costs more than sitting around.

There´s also some PDF (http://www.einsatz.bundeswehr.de/C1256F200023713E/vwContentByKey/W26FECMP263INFODE/$File/Broschüre_Auslandseinsätze.pdf) in german with some numbers if anyone cares.

Well, all in all, except for the mess you created in Iraq I don´t really see why you should have a problem.

whyidie
07-15-2006, 20:12
Now i wonder whether I should feel invaded and found a freedom fighter-organization to throw the british occupants out of Germany.~;)
Nah, you´re always welcome.:2thumbsup:

Also, German troops are in many countries as well, makes me curious ehther I can find some similar map...

http://www.einsatz.bundeswehr.de/C1256F200023713E/CurrentBaseLink/W26N5M56184INFODE/$FILE/20060601_weltkarte.jpg

there it is, from an official German army homepage.

This tells me two things:

1. you brits are not alone.~;)

2. I´m happy that our army tries to use my tax money to help people in other countries to live in peace. They have nothing to do here most of the time anyway, so instead of sitting around they can go and get some experience and try to help others, even if that costs more than sitting around.

There´s also some PDF (http://www.einsatz.bundeswehr.de/C1256F200023713E/vwContentByKey/W26FECMP263INFODE/$File/Broschüre_Auslandseinsätze.pdf) in german with some numbers if anyone cares.

Well, all in all, except for the mess you created in Iraq I don´t really see why you should have a problem.


So the US and UK both have significant amounts of troops in Germany. Do other nations have a significant presence in Germany as well ?

Grey_Fox
07-15-2006, 20:49
Probably most of the other NATO countried keep a force stationed in Germany, but it's mainly British and American troops stationed there.

whyidie
07-15-2006, 20:56
Probably most of the other NATO countried keep a force stationed in Germany, but it's mainly British and American troops stationed there.


Thats got to be weird for the Germans.

BDC
07-15-2006, 21:06
The UK has so few soldiers...

Husar
07-15-2006, 21:16
Thats got to be weird for the Germans.
Well, some Arabs consider them imperialist occupiers, we consider them friends.
No problem with friends in our country. Actually I didn´t know they were so many, I cannot remember seeing any in uniform, maybe I live too far away from their bases.

Philippus Flavius Homovallumus
07-15-2006, 22:51
The UK has so few soldiers...

110,000, actually, of which around 1,500 will be sacked over the next bew years, mainly in frontline fighting units.

If we fall below 100,000 we become a "defence force.":help:

GiantMonkeyMan
07-17-2006, 19:05
my sister is currently stationed in germany and she says they are basically no where near any large town where she can buy anything (although that may be an excuse for not having brought me a b'day pressie :inquisitive: ) so perhaps that's why germans aren't to bothered
also there is a large group of training bases there and in poland where forces of many countries train in the large open spaces, in britain much of the land is farmland or a national parks so training is quite difficult without permission which is why we send our troops to canada and eastern european countries where there is good sites to train

GMM

Bar Kochba
07-17-2006, 19:22
anyone have this type of map for america actully no piont it will just cover the whole globe

GiantMonkeyMan
07-17-2006, 19:29
not the whole world.... there is part of the arctic zone that they don't have any troops in... i think :help:

rory_20_uk
07-18-2006, 19:30
Basing an army on the number of troops is rather dated IMO. Sure, infantry are needed and probably will be for the forseeable future, but with other forces requiring less and less troops for a given level of destruction an absolute decrease in manpower is not nessecarily a bad thing. Of course, it easily can be.

Some troops need to be stationed in war zones so the army always has some soldiers who know how to fight. Always useful. Troops in places such as Germany should be sent home. They can help prop up the economy int he North and not Germany.

~:smoking:

Husar
07-18-2006, 19:51
Hey, our economy needs them, too!~D

Vladimir
07-18-2006, 21:47
not the whole world.... there is part of the arctic zone that they don't have any troops in... i think :help:

Incorrect (kind of). That is, if you count the sailors that are under the ice cap.

Ironside
07-19-2006, 08:56
Incorrect (kind of). That is, if you count the sailors that are under the ice cap.

So what's the troop deployments on Antarctica?

zelda12
07-19-2006, 19:55
Do those numbers include the territorials as well? Or are they just the regulars and those territorial units on active duty at the mo? Actually I'd be interested to find out what the RN's operation strength is aswell, same with the RAF. Though I have to admit that I thought we had less troops in Germany, still ye lives and learns.

Samurai Waki
07-19-2006, 20:04
This is the only Map I could find for places where American Soldiers are Deployed

https://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e177/Wakizashi1985/image007.jpg

Of Course it's old...because Iraq should be Red as Well

Husar
07-19-2006, 20:42
Does that include soldiers making holidays?~;)

Vladimir
07-19-2006, 21:17
So what's the troop deployments on Antarctica?

Scientific. You can actually get a ribbon for that. I wanted one SO bad because they're hard to find.

DukeofSerbia
07-19-2006, 21:35
I didn't know that there are less than 1 000 soldiers in Kosovo and Metohija.

DukeofSerbia
07-19-2006, 21:35
Double post accidentally.

Louis VI the Fat
07-20-2006, 02:01
Does that include soldiers making holidays?~;)Either that, or military personnel at American embassies. There is little other explanation for American military presence in places like China, Russia, Syria and Cuba.

Louis VI the Fat
07-20-2006, 02:04
https://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8829/defense13bz1.jpg

Sorry, the department of defence didn't bother to translate country names in English too.

Pannonian
07-20-2006, 02:24
Either that, or military personnel at American embassies. There is little other explanation for American military presence in places like China, Russia, Syria and Cuba.
There's a certain American holiday camp in Cuba (orange clothing provided), while the US has been making use of Syrian interviewers to ask guests questions.

Husar
07-20-2006, 10:21
Either that, or military personnel at American embassies. There is little other explanation for American military presence in places like China, Russia, Syria and Cuba.
I thought about that, but usually a US embassy is considered territory of the United States, isn´t it?:inquisitive:

And I was secretly waiting for a french map, thanks for that.:2thumbsup: