Tag: Ministry of Defence

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 16 May 2023.

The press release issued by the Cabinet Office on 16 May 2023.

An op-ed from Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer, originally published in the Times Red Box.

Monday marked the start of Mental Health Awareness Week. For me, the week is always a reminder of how the mental aspects of warfare can often be as powerful as the physical.

Early on in my third tour of Afghanistan in summer 2010, I made a close friend. He was a good bloke — intelligent, thoughtful and a good soldier. He was brave, didn’t flinch under fire.

On a patrol, he was shot in the side. Though the round pinged off his new body armour plate, something in his head snapped. He had to be extracted as a casualty, despite having no physical injury; he just could not compute what had happened to him.

It was perhaps the worst case of battle shock I had seen in a British soldier up to that point. It was devastating to see a man so strong, yet so completely broken by battle. It had a profound effect on me. It demonstrated to me the vicious and unpredictable effects of trauma on the mind.

A few years later, I bumped into a soldier I’d trained with back in 2007. He had completely transformed himself from a problem character into an exemplar soldier. He made a point of telling me how important those early days in training had been: how they had taught him humility, courage, discipline and resilience.

Seeing him reminded me how rewarding it had been to help him and many others like him make something of themselves. I started to think about where I might be able to make a difference in the future.

Heading home from Afghanistan, I felt that tokenism dominated almost every approach to veterans’ care and mental health. When it came to post-combat care specifically, I strongly believed that the government had singularly failed our service men and women.

I wanted to end the unacceptable stigma and lack of genuine commitment to mental health. My mind was made up. I was going to leave the Army and become an MP. As the minister for veterans’ affairs, I’ve made it my mission to improve the plight of veterans and their families. And with that comes improving access to health services.

One real service innovation has been to take a multidisciplinary approach: addressing not just physical health needs, but the wider health and social needs of the veteran so they can heal, recover and thrive.

Op Courage was the pioneer: a single clear defined pathway for veterans in England to access world-class mental health care. The Veterans Trauma Network, another dedicated NHS service for veterans, is also helping to standardise physical health support. It is the services charity sector that is complementing these services with excellent wraparound support.

Being active can make a world of difference. The Veteran Games, taking place later this month in Tel Aviv, will host over 60 wounded British veterans together with their spouses and children. They will compete with their Israeli counterparts across swimming, shooting and functional fitness. Now in its third year, the Games was set up by the charity Beit Halochem UK, which supports state-of-the-art centres for injured veterans in Israel, and is entirely run from philanthropic donations.

Competing veterans have been selected by charities based on how much they will benefit from the opportunity, rather than for their sporting prowess. It is the taking part that counts, and everything that comes with it. This includes building shared, long-term bonds with their fellow UK and Israeli competitors.

I am inspired by the veterans who are challenging themselves, and encouraging others to do the same. I will be cheering for them later this month — not only to grab those medals, but to continue on their personal journeys to recovery.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 14 May 2023.

More than 1,500 UK troops are set to train alongside thousands of personnel from NATO Alliance countries, as part of a major exercise in Estonia.

• Personnel from all three services of the UK Armed Forces are deployed in Estonia, carrying out exercises and operations as part of our commitment to NATO.
• More than 1,500 troops have been deployed for Exercise Spring Storm, demonstrating the reinforcement of the UK-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battlegroup to Brigade-sized strength.
• 14,000 personnel from 11 NATO countries will demonstrate interoperability in multi-domain training scenarios as part of the exercise.

More than 1,500 UK troops are set to train alongside thousands of personnel from NATO Alliance countries, as part of a major Estonian-led exercise.

Exercise Spring Storm is the largest annual military exercise involving the UK-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup, comprised of both UK and French forces, with more than 14,000 personnel due to take part from 11 NATO countries.

At last year’s NATO summit, the UK committed to increase the size of its eFP commitment, with this year’s exercise marking the first time the UK has conducted a brigade-sized deployment to Estonia – involving hundreds more personnel than in previous deployments.

Spread across tough and varied Estonian terrain, ground units will be tested on realistic battlefield scenarios including trench assaults, reconnaissance missions, and light infantry tactics, moving up to armoured vehicle manoeuvres and combined arms warfare.

Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, said:

Hundreds of UK troops from across our Armed Forces will again train with personnel from eleven NATO nations, demonstrating the strength of our interoperability with partner nations and our combined commitment to the NATO Alliance.

While the Russian Army continues their illegal invasion of Ukraine threatening stability in Europe, the UK and our allies will continue to support Ukraine and defend our shared values and freedom.

Beyond the land-based elements of the two-week exercise, members of the RAF will carry out training exercises in reconnaissance and air-land integration, while Royal Marines Commandos will also carry out a beach assault exercise to test the UK’s maritime strike capability.

The eFP provides a continuous NATO presence along its eastern border, with deployed troops acting as a deterrence against any aggression towards the Alliance’s borders. Recent actions carried out as part of the UK-led eFP include air intercepts of Russian aircraft by RAF fighter jets.

Personnel from the British Army’s 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team (7LMBCT) HQ and Light Dragoons Battlegroup (LD BG) join the Queen’s Royal Hussars (QRH) for the exercise, which will include Challenger 2 tanks, Warrior and CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Jackal, CAESAR self-propelled howitzers, and other artillery pieces, including British GMLRS and US HIMARS.

Supporting air-based exercises will be four Wildcat and five Apache helicopters, as well as three RAF Typhoon fighter jets.

The Queen’s Royal Hussars Commanding Officer Lt Col Steve Wilson said:

The eFP is looking forward to the opportunities provided by Exercise Spring Storm. The chance to train over the terrain we might need to defend adds to the gravitas of the exercise.

Our Battlegroup is fully integrated with 1st Estonian Brigade and brings a highly trained and capable UK and French troops to the field. We will be bringing a wide range of hard-hitting capabilities from Main Battle Tanks (MBT), anti-tank, and artillery to snipers, mortars, engineers and tactical air controllers. We look forward to demonstrating the capabilities and resolve of the NATO alliance over the coming days.

The exercise is conducted in a peer-on-peer format, allowing the reconnaissance capabilities of the LD Battlegroup to be tested against the heavy armour of the QRH Battlegroup, and vice versa.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 12 May 2023.

The facility contains a new laboratory, Technology and Training Hub, indoor training area, and fit for purpose instruction space.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 11 May 2023.

Soldiers at five Army barracks are set to benefit from new single living accommodation under a £1.2bn programme to modernise and improve the Army estate.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 10 May 2023.

Military support for Ukraine and a radical overhaul of NATO’s deterrence and defence topped the agenda for meeting of Alliance’s Defence Chiefs.

Ongoing military support to Ukraine and NATO’s continuing transformation to face key security challenges were the focus of a meeting of the Alliance’s Chiefs of Defence, held today in Brussels.

Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, represented the UK for the meeting in Brussels, the first in-person session of NATO Chiefs of Defence since Finland’s accession to NATO.

Sweden was also represented as an invitee and NATO’s closest partner, ahead of its accession to the Alliance. The UK was the fifth NATO member to ratify Sweden and Finland’s membership, and welcomed Finnish accession to NATO.

The UK continues to encourage all Allies to ratify Sweden’s membership as soon as possible. Finnish and Swedish membership will make all Allies safer, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure.

UK Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said:

As the war in Ukraine reaches another important phase, it is of the utmost importance that the United Kingdom and its Allies stay strong in our ongoing support to Ukraine, as they seek to drive Russian forces from their sovereign territory.

With Finland now a full member of NATO, and Sweden expected to complete its accession in the coming months, Putin has only succeeded in ensuring our Alliance is stronger than ever. I look forward to working with other Chiefs of Defence to finalise the transformation of NATO’s deterrence and defence ahead of July’s NATO Summit in Vilnius.

With his counterparts, Admiral Radakin welcomed the new NATO Regional Plans, which give NATO military commanders a wide range of options to defend Alliance territory against threats from Russia and terrorist groups.

This is the first time NATO has developed such plans since the end of the Cold War. The plans form part of a decade-long process of transformation for the Alliance, which is stronger and more united than ever.

The UK is committed to standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes to defend themselves against Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion. We are one of the leading providers of military support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and have committed so spend another £2.3bn on military support for Ukraine this year. By making this commitment we are strengthening Ukraine’s position to repel Russia’s barbaric invasion and secure its long-term sovereignty.

The meeting of Defence Chiefs comes just days before the start of Exercise Spring Storm, the largest annual exercise involving the UK-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Estonia, which will see more than 1,000 members of the UK Armed Forces leading the multinational training exercise.

The two-week exercise will showcase the UK’s ability to deploy hundreds of personnel, as well as armoured vehicles and helicopters to Europe, for an exercise to boost interoperability with NATO allies.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 10 May 2023.

A £560 million contract to manage the UK land on which thousands of Armed Forces personnel train, has been awarded to Landmarc Support Services by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO).

• £560 million contract to deliver management of facilities, rural estates and operational services.
• 1,308 jobs supported across the entirety of the UK Defence Training Estate, delivering on the Prime Minister’s priorities.
• UK training estate plays a crucial role in preparing troops for operations across the globe, including supporting the UK-based training of thousands of Ukrainian volunteers.

Delivering facilities management, rural estate management and operational services across the 156,000 hectares which make up the UK Defence Training Estate, around 1,300 UK jobs will be sustained by the replacement contract, delivering on the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy and support jobs across the country.

Comprising 16 major armed forces training areas and 104 minor training areas including ranges and camps, the UK Defence training estate includes sites from Salisbury Plain in the South West to Barry Buddon in Scotland as well as many more. Through the new contract, Landmarc which is a joint venture between Mitie and Amentum will provide UK and visiting Armed Forces with a safe and secure place to live, work and train, while maintaining and improving the land, buildings and facilities that they use.

The contract will also deliver vital services to training troops, including providing them with around four million meals a year and approximately one million bed spaces.

Innovative, more responsive, and flexible services will be introduced for personnel using the training estate, resulting in facilities that will be more agile to meet the changing needs of the Armed Forces.

Minister for Defence Procurement, James Cartlidge said:

This significant investment will help to ensure we continue to offer safe, secure and well-maintained training facilities for our Service Personnel as they prepare for operations worldwide.

The UK’s Defence Training Estate also provides a huge boost to our economy, with this contract sustaining more than a thousand jobs across the country.

The training estate covers around one per cent of land in the UK and plays a crucial role in preparing UK and visiting troops for operations across the globe, including supporting the UK-based training of thousands of Ukrainian volunteer recruits.

The training being delivered on our sites has so far equipped more than 10,000 Ukrainian personnel with battle-proven skills and expertise. These individuals are volunteers recruited into the Armed Forces of Ukraine with little limited military experience, so it’s essential their training provides the skills required to be effective in frontline combat.

Our Training Estate teams have delivered specific operational training requirements, from the digging of trench systems and the re-design of training areas, to supporting on the ranges where Ukrainian recruits are developing their marksmanship skills.

Brigadier Jonathan Bartholomew, Head DIO Overseas & Training Region, said:

We are passionate about the work we do every day to support our Armed Forces by offering a safe place to train.

This new contract for the training estate will offer safe, secure, and well-maintained training facilities, meals, and beds, for our Service personnel as they prepare for operations worldwide.

The new contract offers the opportunity to transform the way we manage our training areas. We have a good working relationship with Landmarc and I look forward to continuing our work with them to improve the training estate so that it meets the unique and ever-changing needs of our Armed Forces as well as offering a safe place for the public to visit.

The training estate includes training camps, range complexes and field firing areas, as well as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Conservation Areas. Much of the training estate is open to the public and this new contract will help to ensure that these important spaces are well maintained and are kept safe for both the public and the military to use.

Mark Neill, Managing Director at Landmarc, said:

We are thrilled to be awarded this new contract and build on 20 years of outstanding service delivery to ensure that the UK Defence Training Estate delivers safe and sustainable locations to train our Armed Forces.

Every single one of our 1,300 strong team has had a part to play in providing the critical services that enable our Armed Forces to train effectively, deploy on operations and return home safely.  We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with DIO and working with its wider industry partners to transform the lived experience of Armed Forces personnel who use the Defence estate to live, work and train.

Major General Richard Clements, Director Basing and Infrastructure said:

A well-maintained estate is critical to providing a safe environment in which to prepare our soldiers for operations and is therefore key to the success of the British Army. The new Training Estate contract will see Landmarc deliver essential services that will ensure infrastructure and facilities are well maintained to enable Defence’s world-class training.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 3 May 2023.

Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese and UK Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace have today visited the shipyard where the next generation of AUKUS nuclear submarines will be built for the Royal Navy.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 2 May 2023.

Soldiers from the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment undertake a final inspection parade in Cyprus before departing for Ceremonial duties in the UK.

Personnel stationed at British Forces Cyprus, a Strategic Command overseas base, will be participating in the Coronation of HM King Charles III in London.

The ceremonial groups have participated in training in the UK, alongside other members of the British and Commonwealth Armed Forces, before they represent The Sovereign Base Areas at the Coronation.

The Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus are part of the global network of locations, managed by Strategic Command, that provide UK Defence with a global reach and support the security of the UK, its allies, and partner nations.

Asked about the importance of the Coronation to those posted overseas, Commander British Forces Cyprus and Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas, Air Vice Marshal Peter Squires, said:

The Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III is an especially momentous event for the UK Overseas Territory on Cyprus and all those who serve or support our work here.

Having conducted our own Proclamation Ceremony last September and with the Administrator being appointed directly by the Sovereign, we have a close relationship with the Monarchy as demonstrated by the many Royal visits we have hosted, most recently when Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal opened the Queen Berengaria School in January.

We are proud that British Forces from Cyprus have been chosen to participate in the Coronation, and our personnel and families will join the rest of the UK, the Commonwealth and globe in enjoying this historic occasion throughout the weekend of celebration.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 1 May 2023.

Royal Navy, Army, and RAF handed international evacuation operations back to Sudanese authorities after leaving the airfield in good order.