Military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) is the collective term used by the Ministry of Defence of the

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to refer to the operational deployment of the

armed forces of the United Kingdom The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, su ...

in support of the civilian authorities, other government departments and the community as a whole.

Commander Home Command Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

is the standing joint commander responsible for the planning and execution of civil contingency operations within the UK landmass and territorial waters during any military aid to UK civil authorities.

Scope

There are three criteria for the provision of MACA: * Military aid should always be the last resort. The use of mutual aid, other agencies, and the private sector must be otherwise considered as insufficient or be unsuitable. * The civil authority lacks the required level of capability to fulfil the task and it is unreasonable or prohibitively expensive to expect it to develop on. * The civil authority has a capability, but the need to act is urgent and it lacks readily available resources

Legal considerations

All operations must be conducted within both civil and military law. Failure to comply with this principle may result in criminal or civil law proceedings being brought against individuals or the MOD. Unlike the police and some other civil agencies, members of the armed forces (during peacetime) have no powers over and above those of ordinary citizens. They have the same personal duty as anyone else to abide by the law at all times.

Types of assistance

MACA encompasses four types of assistance: *Military aid to other government departments *

Military aid to the civil power Aid to the Civil Power (ACP) or Military Aid to the Civil Power (MACP) is the use of the armed forces in support of the civil authorities of a state. Different countries have varying policies regarding the relationship between their military and c ...

Military aid to the civil community Military aid to the civil community (MACC) is a phrase referring to the armed forces providing a service to the civilian community. It is used in many countries, particularly the United Kingdom. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, military aid t ...

*Training and logistic assistance to the civil power

Military aid to other government departments

Military aid to other government departments covers assistance provided by the armed forces to urgent work of national importance or in maintaining supplies and services essential to the life, health and safety of the community, such as ''

Operation Fresco The 2002–2003 UK firefighter dispute was a period of nationwide strike action which began when the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) voted to strike in an attempt to secure better salaries. The FBU demanded a 39 percent increase in pay, which would ha ...

'' during the

2002-2003 UK firefighter dispute The 2002–2003 UK firefighter dispute was a period of nationwide strike action which began when the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) voted to strike in an attempt to secure better salaries. The FBU demanded a 39 percent increase in pay, which would ha ...

. MAGD is controlled under orders made under section 2 of the ''

Emergency Powers Act 1964 The Emergency Powers Act 1964 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and was passed to amend the Emergency Powers Act 1920 and make permanent the Defence (Armed Forces) Regulations 1939. Section 1 of this Act did not apply to Northern ...

''.

Military aid to the civil power

Military aid to the civil power encompasses the provision of military assistance (armed if necessary) in its maintenance of law, order and public safety using specialist capabilities or equipment in situations beyond the capability of the civil power. This includes capabilities such as

explosive ordnance disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milit ...

and

mountain rescue Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with tech ...

(where it is provided by the

Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (RAFMRS) provides the UK military's only all-weather search and rescue asset for the United Kingdom. Royal Air Force mountain rescue teams (MRTs) were first organised during World War II to rescue aircr ...

)

Military aid to the civil community

Military aid to the civil community encompasses the provision of unarmed military assistance to prevent or deal with the aftermath of a natural disaster or a major incident or, to assist civil sponsors either by carrying out special projects of significant social value to the community or by attaching individual volunteers to specific projects.

History

Royal Regiment of Scotland Saddleworth Moor

Examples of MACA being utilized include: * Operation Fresco during the

* Operation Pitchpole during the

2013–14 United Kingdom winter floods The 2013–2014 United Kingdom winter floods saw areas of Ireland and the United Kingdom inundated following severe storms. The south of England saw heavy rainfalls associated with these storms which caused widespread flooding, power cuts and m ...

* Operation Shaku during the 2015–16 Great Britain and Ireland floods * Operation Bridled following the collapse of Didcot power station in 2016. *

Operation Temperer Operation Temperer is a British government plan to deploy troops to support and free up police officers in key locations following a major terrorist attack or major public disorder. It was put into effect for the first time on 22 May 2017 followin ...

following the

Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...

and the

Parsons Green train bombing On 15 September 2017, at around 08:20 BST (07:20 UTC), an explosion occurred on a District line train at Parsons Green Underground station, in London, England. Thirty people were treated in hospital or an urgent care centre, mostly for burn ...

in 2017 * 2018 United Kingdom wildfires * 2019–20 United Kingdom floods *

Operation Rescript Operation Rescript is the code name for the British military operation to help tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies. It has been described as the UK's "biggest ever homeland military operation i ...

during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom *

Storm Arwen Storm Arwen was a powerful extratropical cyclone that was part of the 2021–22 European windstorm season. It affected the United Kingdom, Ireland and France, bringing strong winds and snow. Storm Arwen caused at least three fatalities and wide ...

in December 2021 * Operation Isotrope (2020-present) in response to the

English Channel migrant crossings (2018–present) An increasing number of refugees and migrants have been entering the United Kingdom illegally by crossing the English Channel in the last decades. The Strait of Dover section between Dover in England and Calais in France represents the shortest ...

References

{{reflist Military of the United Kingdom Law enforcement in the United Kingdom