Notes From The Commanding Officer

FOREWORD COLONEL COMMANDANT, THE ROYAL TANK REGIMENT

Brigadier G J Thompson (late RTR)

I would like to begin by welcoming Lieutenant Colonel Simon Worth as Commanding Officer and saying farewell to Lieutenant Colonel Jim Howard who led the Regiment admirably and with great dexterity through the difficult period of Covid. The Regiment’s discipline and performance was widely respected throughout Lieutenant Colonel Howard’s command and he left the Regiment with its reputation enhanced. The timing of this edition of Tank is fortuitous. It comes immediately after the publication of the Army’s Future Soldier Review and provides me with an opportunity to explain its likely impact on the Regiment.

Brigadier Gavin Thompson, Colonel Commandant, The Royal Tank Regiment

As the largest of the services, the Army came under sustained pressure to resize. The target of a 12% reduction in regular manpower while retaining the same capbadge frontage was undoubtedly challenging. Very few parts of the Army were untouched. The resultant future Army structure requires more underpinning by the Reserves at the expense of the Regular component. At the end of the Review, the proportion of the Army’s structure provided by the Royal Armoured Corps remains constant at 9%. While there is still some fine detail to be worked out and formal direction to be issued, the two remaining heavy armoured regiments look to have fared relatively well. We do not yet know for certain, but it is likely that, the Regiment will remain a Type 58 armoured regiment in Tidworth as part of 12 Brigade. It is likely to be formed into 4 Sabre Squadrons of 4 troops each of 3 tanks. In this configuration, the Regular component of the Regiment is likely to be Type 46 and the Reserve component, provided by the Royal Wessex Yeomanry, Type 12; the Yeomanry providing 1 troop to each Squadron. There is no change to the CBRN Squadron in Warminster.

I understand that there will be some scepticism about the Yeomanry’s ability to provide 12 crews at readiness. This is one of the areas where we will need to think imaginatively. But we must be positive, embrace the change and make the concept work. The upside is our total establishment of 580 is likely to remain the same - not the case for other combat regiments including those in the Royal Armoured Corps - and investment in a future Tank is secure.

Many will reflect that the Future Soldier structures resemble the Regiment’s Cold War balance between peace time and warfighting establishment. The coincidence with the Regiment’s deployment on Europe’s Eastern border to deter Russia will not evade notice either. All the squadrons are, or have been, committed to readiness or operations in Estonia: BADGER on CABRIT 8; BGHQ, EGYPT and DREADNAUGHT on CABRIT 9; and AJAX will deploy on CABRIT 10. CYCLOPS was held at readiness for the evacuation from Afghanistan. FALCON is at Very High Readiness in the CBRN role. The Regiment’s commitments reflect the fact that Great Power rivalry once again underscores international relations. In broad sweeps, history demonstrates that every 70 years challenger nations rise as the order created by the victors of the last war loses relevance. Seventy years after the treaties that ended the Second World War, China and Russia are prepared to challenge the order they judge detrimental to their Twenty First Century interests.