Originally Posted by irlsgt

What you need is a brigades and units that are trained together and fully up to war fighting establishment, so that you don't need to bring in attachments.

True, unfortunately we can't afford it nor can you predict the exact force make up you will need in the operation. Therefore we must make do with what we can afford based on what we are most likely to need, hence the MRB.

Originally Posted by irlsgt

For example, X Bde could have Y TA infanty coy on its establishment as a FP coy.

Like all factors that influence force make up, the FP requirement will vary on the situation. Therefore a TA Coy might be the right answer in some circumstances but not others. In addition anyone who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan will recognise that FP runs a little deeper than just having a designated FP Coy per Bde.

Originally Posted by irlsgt

Or an enduring brigade level and an enduring battalion level (eg has Brunei and Cyprus etc been factored in?)

I don't believe that either the resident Bn in Cyprus nor the Gurkha Bn in Brunei fall into an MRB. Both have unique tasks but are able to contribute to the OCP on an ad hoc basis (as required), this is unlikely to change without some major changes in UK foreign (and in the case of the SBAs, domestic) policy.

We should bear in mind that one of the key planning assumptions is that the current 'oozing sore' modus operandi, with an endless succession of scratch brigades deploying on roulement into an endless conflict is most definitely not on the radar as far as HMG is concerned. In and out quickly is the motto, one gathers. The Army has become conditioned to think of Telic/Herrick as the norm (which it has been for nearly ten years, of course); it will be reverting to a peacetime establishment and routine as soon as we get the hell out of Helmand. This will be a new experience for probably 50% of the officer corps and perhaps as many as 75% of the rank and file. I foresee some strained times ahead.

"In and out quickly" is a politician's fantasy. I think the speed at which this government became embroiled in Libya (of which I suspect we have only seen the comparatively easy start) demonstrates to me that in this era of compassionate interventionism, any likely UK government will find itself committing to something. This may be limited to an air ops only policy for a few years until we relearn the lesson that in order to have the required effect, we almost always need troops on the ground; and so the circle continues. Perhaps we should just blame the Blair/Clinton combination for kicking off the seemingly irreversible moral interventionist trend. Either way, Afghanistan will not be the last operation we are involved in either motivated by a desire to improve our own security (Iraq/Afghanistan) or for humanitarian reasons (the Balkans).

I wouldn't disagree with brave-coward above, in that the reality will almost certainly differ dramatically from government planning - I could imagine circumstances where a full-on intervention somewhere horrid might well be politically necessary and the Army will be called upon to perform it. I seriously wonder at the sustainability, short of a major national mobilisation (with the accompanying popular and political support required), of more than a very limited (in terms of time and resource) brigade-scale operation.

Sorry to drag up an old thread but wondered if any of the questions above have been answered, CS and CSS especially

Originally Posted by meridian

Sorry to drag up an old thread but wondered if any of the questions above have been answered, CS and CSS especially

I think the simple answer is No, not yet. The whole MRB concept is under question at the moment, but there is a man working on a plan and he is due to start sharing it over the next few weeks or so. I suggest you hold tight for a few more weeks, hopefully then we should start to get some clarity.

Let's just hope that CS and CSS are factored into the plan from the start - but that would be a novel concept.

Originally Posted by MindenHalberd

I think the simple answer is No, not yet. The whole MRB concept is under question at the moment, but there is a man working on a plan and he is due to start sharing it over the next few weeks or so. I suggest you hold tight for a few more weeks, hopefully then we should start to get some clarity.

Let's just hope that CS and CSS are factored into the plan from the start - but that would be a novel concept.

You are either on drugs or have a Masters Degree in mindless optimism.

The key word was some. Some clarity at least is required in order to enable everybody else and their wives (and their wives' tennis partners of course) to start dissing the whole thing.

Some clarity is also essential to enable the cap-badge lobby groups to meet up and consider their 'Save the Loamshires' campaigns.

After all it's only the first leg of the log run which supposedly finishes in 2020.

Thanks Minden, would you mind updating this thread as things become clear[er]?

Cheers

Depressingly it would appear that things are starting to resolve on four brigades:

Major-General Nick Carter, Future Brit Mil