British Army incremental infantry companies

Again however, after the first round of disbandings and amalgamations, the policy was halted, with those battalions intended for removal instead reduced in size to a single company.

2nd Battalion Company, Scots Guards was stationed in Edinburgh throughout its existence from March 1971 to January 1972, where it undertook public duties, as well as recruitment and training tasks, which included service as OPFOR during an exercise undertaken in Scotland by 24 Airportable Brigade.

Interspersed between its various taskings, Tiger Company was reduced to a cadre between September 1972 and November 1973, serving as a training unit at the Junior Soldiers Wing in Canterbury.

As a consequence, the government elected to raise an additional four infantry battalions in an effort to meet its commitments both to the security situation in Northern Ireland and ensure that the British Army of the Rhine was not impeded.

The presence of an extra infantry battalion in the UK was aimed to ensure no loss of capability in the event of other units being required for Northern Ireland.

[25] 2/2 GR was initially stationed in Hong Kong on its reformation, before moving to Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Church Crookham in 1975.

[17] The British Army maintains incremental companies to serve as permanent public duties units in London and Edinburgh.

[30] Following the Integrated Review, the foot guards battalion assigned to 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade, which is reduced in size for the duration of its time assigned to the specialised infantry role transfers its remaining strength to the public duties role through the creation of two additional incremental companies.

[31] As part of the Army 2020 reforms outlined by the Strategic Defence and Security Review, an additional public duties incremental company was formed in 2013 through the reduction of the 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (formerly the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) to company strength to serve as a public duties unit in Scotland.

This unit, Balaklava Company (named for the battle honour won by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1854), is based at Redford Barracks, Edinburgh.

[42] So, in the event of the parent battalion undertaking a tour of Northern Ireland, the Gurkha company would need to be detached for duty elsewhere.

[36][38] Although the last of the reinforcement companies, attached to 1st Battalion, The Highlanders, was disbanded in 2004, a new batch of units was formed from 2008, again as a result of manpower shortages in the infantry.

[44] This eventually saw three new reinforcement companies formed - one of these was attached to 2nd Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles, while the other two formed part of other regiments:[45] As with previous reinforcement units, the new companies were fully integrated elements of their parent battalions, deploying on a number of occasions as part of Operation Herrick to Afghanistan.

The company was used extensively in a number of operational theatres, including the Suez Canal, Cyprus and West Germany, as well as being deployed to Northern Ireland during the first half of the 1970s, usually attached to a battalion of the Parachute Regiment.