ARmy Rumour SErvice

Originally Posted by Junder

plenty of space for infantry to play in

Where? From what I remember there wasn't all that much room in any of the NI training areas.

Originally Posted by Plant-Pilot

I agree having some units in NI may not necessarily be a 'problem', but shipping off whole units or commands to Germany/Poland/Canada/Kenya every time they need to do any meaningful training isn't exactly in the spirit of 'economy' that the moves are being presented in, are they?

Some units based in Scotland will be able to train in Otterburn (the 'lucky' buggers!), but it is primarily an Infantry/Artillery range. Armour will need to get all the way down to Catterick or Salisbury Plain to get any training and even that is on the restricted side.
[snip]

Anyone hanker for the good old days of 1 (BR) Corps when all armour (4 x Divisions) just had to leave camp and turn right onto the only training area that mattered..... West Germany!

The art of understatement lives on.

I remember being posted back from BAOR in 1976, and discovering (having taken part in Ex WIDE HORIZON the previous year) how small Catterick was - even for dismounted infantry training.

Originally Posted by Brotherton Lad

Wasn't it called something like 433 land?

443-ed, IIRC. I always understood that was the number on the BFG application form submitted to the Hermans in order to obtain the necessary permissions, but I could be wildly wrong about that latter bit.

Originally Posted by Stonker

443-ed, IIRC. I always understood that was the number on the BFG application form submitted to the Hermans in order to obtain the necessary permissions, but I could be wildly wrong about that latter bit.

That is correct. The application for an area to be used for training (less certain restricted areas) was the 443 and any area cleared was said to be 443'd and was cleared to play on... I mean, for training.

Sometime huge swathes of Germany were 443'd, whole Div and Corps areas were not uncommon.

Originally Posted by Blowfish

40 REGT RA Have been disbanden I hardly can see them doing a exercise in Germany

They haven't been disbanded yet and they are doing an exercise.

Originally Posted by jimmys_best_mate

Where? From what I remember there wasn't all that much room in any of the NI training areas.

How much space to you need, plenty of space in ballykinler and maghaberry for running up and down sand dunes doing section and platoon attacks. Engineers were having fun yesterday blowing stuff up in ballykinler


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Originally Posted by Junder

How much space to you need, plenty of space in ballykinler and maghaberry for running up and down sand dunes doing section and platoon attacks. Engineers were having fun yesterday blowing stuff up in ballykinler


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Something roughly twice the size of Salisbury plain, if you want to exercise (with any degree of variety and realism) anything larger than an Armoured Battlegroup, and even with that much ground to play with it would soon grow repetitive.

Here, my mind goes back to 1975, and being regrouped to a Sqn of Hussars on Soltau - an area with which they were all too familiar. Hence the very secure radio order "Hello all stations, this is Zero Alpha: Rendezvous in 25 minutes, where Rodney threw a track last year. Out"

My BATCO wallet (or was it SLIDEX back then?) didn't do me much good that day.

Originally Posted by Drlligaf

A certain senior officer told us at a briefing last year that JHQ would be closed by Jul 13. A variation on mushroom farming?

What are the chances of learning more tomorrow afternoon?