British Forces Brunei (BFB) is the name given to the

British Armed Forces 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, s ...

presence in

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

. Since the handover ceremony of Hong Kong in 1997, the garrison in

is one of remaining British military base in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

along with

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

(and one of six East of Suez, along with

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, a disputed overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of the 60 small islands of ...

, HMS ''Juffair'', UKJLSB, Sembawang Base in Singapore and the Omani-British Joint Training Area.)

History

The BFB garrison came about in 1963, when British troops were moved there from

to quell a revolt against Sultan

Omar Ali Saifuddien III Sultan Sir Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien ( Jawi: ; 23 September 1914 – 7 September 1986) was the 28th Sultan of Brunei, reigning from 4 June 1950 until his abdication from the throne on 5 October 1967. He was also Brunei's fir ...

in December 1962. From there, British forces have been involved in several conflicts, including helping to quell the Brunei Revolt of 1962 and the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. Since Brunei's independence in 1984, forces have been stationed there at the request of the current Sultan, in a renewable agreement lasting five years at a time. The forces stationed in Brunei are available to assist the Sultan, but are also available for deployment overseas with other elements of the British Armed Forces if needed. As recompense, the Sultan pays to help support the British presence.

Structure

BFB is located at

Seria Seria () is a town in Belait District, Brunei, about west from the country's capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The total population was 3,625 in 2016. It was where oil was first struck in Brunei in 1929 and has since become a centre for the countr ...

and is centred on a

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

battalion, which will be one of the two battalions of the

Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unite ...

. The battalion stationed in Brunei operates as the British Army's acclimatised Far East reserve,1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles
/ref> and is available for overseas deployment to the Far East and beyond—the Brunei-based battalion has been deployed to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

as part of

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Ass ...

on several occasions, as well as to

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

. In addition, Brunei serves as one of the British Army's major training areas, specialising in

jungle warfare Jungle warfare is a term used to cover the special techniques needed for military units to survive and fight in jungle terrain. It has been the topic of extensive study by military strategists, and was an important part of the planning for bo ...

, with the Jungle Warfare Training School (also known as Training Team Brunei) running the Jungle Warfare Advisor's Course.British Military Garrison Brunei, British Army website
*Stationed units **HQ Brunei Garrison **Resident infantry battalion (rotated every three years) ***2nd Battalion,

** 667 Squadron,

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 ...

** Jungle Warfare Division, Infantry Battle School ** Brunei Police Unit ** Brunei Signal Troop

Off-duty life

The British Forces Broadcasting Service broadcasts to the garrison, carrying programmes from both BFBS Radio 1 and BFBS Radio Gurkha. The Hornbill School, operated by

Service Children's Education Service Children's Education (SCE) is an organisation of the United Kingdom government responsible for the education of the children of British Armed Forces families and Ministry of Defence (MoD) personnel serving outside of the United Kingdom ...

, is a primary school for children of services personnel.Farewell Ceremony for Members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles
, ''

Radio Televisyen Brunei Radio Television Brunei ( ms, Radio Televisyen Brunei, Jawi: راديو تيليۏيشين بروني, officially abbreviated as RTB) is the national public broadcaster of Brunei. Radio Brunei made its first broadcast on 2 May 1957, with a te ...

'', 18 June 2007

Notes

External links

The British Army in Brunei
{{Authority control

Brunei–United Kingdom military relations Military of Brunei Joint commands of the United Kingdom Military installations of the United Kingdom in other countries Brunei and the Commonwealth of Nations United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations British Army Garrisons

History

Structure

Off-duty life

See also

Notes

External links