News story

Units to deploy as part of Herrick 18 announced

The units due to deploy to Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick 18 have been announced by the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond.

From:
Ministry of Defence and The Rt Hon Philip Hammond
Published
12 February 2013
This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
Members of the Household Calvary Regiment during a mounted patrol in Gereshk, Helmand province, in 2011 (library image) [Picture: Sergeant Russ Nolan, Crown Copyright/MOD 2011]

Members of the Household Cavalry Regiment on patrol in Afghanistan in early 2011 (library image)

The next roulement, or changeover, of UK forces in Afghanistan is due to take place in April 2013. Around half of these units will form Task Force Helmand under command of 1st Mechanized Brigade.

The remainder will deploy within Helmand and also to other locations in Afghanistan - particularly Kandahar and Kabul - as part of the UK’s overall contribution.

In addition to the list of formed units, individual augmentees from each of the Services will continue to deploy as part of this integrated force package. In total it is expected that around 910 individual augmentees will deploy on operations.

These will be comprised of 146 Royal Navy personnel, approximately 400 Army personnel and 364 Royal Air Force personnel. The Royal Air Force will provide the command element of Headquarters Joint Force Support (Afghanistan), with the wider headquarters manned by individual augmentees from all 3 Services.

Volunteer and ex-regular members of the Reserve Forces will continue to deploy to Afghanistan as part of this integrated force package, and it is expected that around 550 call-out notices will be issued.

On completion of their mobilisation procedures, the reservists will undertake a period of training and, where applicable, integration with their respective receiving units. The majority will serve on operations for around 6 months although a small proportion of any force which is stood down due to force level reductions is likely to be reservist.

Soldiers from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment on a security patrol in Lashkar Gah (library image)

Soldiers from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment on a security patrol in Lashkar Gah district in 2010 (library image) [Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]

As the Prime Minister announced in December 2012, the UK’s conventional force levels in Afghanistan will draw down from 9,000 at the end of 2012 to around 5,200 by the end of 2013.

The forces deploying include:

Updates to this page

Published 12 February 2013