Ministry of Defence Woodbridge or MoD Woodbridge is a military installation located near the town of

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

, in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England. The site opened in 2006 and is operated by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and incorporates both Rock Barracks and Woodbridge Airfield. The barracks are home to two

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

Regiments. The airfield is used periodically by helicopters of the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

for training exercises. The site was previously known as RAF Woodbridge and had periods where it was operated by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. The RAF station closed in August 1993.

History

RAF Woodbridge

Constructed in 1943 as a

(RAF) airfield during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to assist damaged aircraft to land on their return from raids over

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, it was later used by the

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, being the primary home for the 79th Tactical Fighter Squadron and the

78th Tactical Fighter Squadron The 78th Attack Squadron (78 ATKS) is an Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) unit under the 926th Wing, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and Tenth Air Force (10 AF) at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. The 78 ATKS cond ...

and squadrons of the

81st Fighter Wing The 81st Training Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force and the host wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. The 81st Training Wing has the Air Force's largest Technical Training Group and trains more than 40,000 students annually. ...

under various designations until 1993. For many years, the 81st Fighter Wing also operated from nearby RAF Bentwaters, with Bentwaters and Woodbridge being known as the "Twin Bases". The RAF station closed in August 1993.

Reactivation

In 2001, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

announced that £100 million would be invested in the Woodbridge site in order to accommodate British Army personnel. Due to budgetary constraints and commitments to

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

(the UK's contribution to the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

), the start of work at Woodbridge was delayed until January 2004. On 1 September 2006, the former Woodbridge site was split up and the two parts renamed as Woodbridge Airfield and Rock Barracks. Around 500 army personnel are based at Woodbridge.

Airfield

Woodbridge Airfield is used by

helicopters for training exercises. During August 2016, the airfield was used for testing the Airbus A400M Atlas.

Planned closure

In November 2016, the Ministry of Defence announced that MOD Woodbridge would close by 2027. However, in February 2019, following detailed assessment work, the Ministry of Defence concluded the retention of MOD Woodbridge supports the military requirement of the Army, and its closure was cancelled.

Based units

The following units are based at Rock Barracks. *

23 Parachute Engineer Regiment 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment is a Royal Engineers regiment in the British Army that was formed in 2003. It provides engineer support to 16 Air Assault Brigade in both the parachute and air assault role. The regiment is currently based at Rock ...

**12 Parachute Headquarters and Support Squadron ** 9 Parachute Squadron ** 51 Parachute Squadron * 28 Engineer Regiment (C-CBRN), Royal Engineers ** 42 Field Squadron (C-CBRN) ** 77 Field Squadron (C-CBRN)

References

{{Reflist Military installations in England Military history of Suffolk