The Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF) was a capability concept of the

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

from 1999 to 2010. It was a pool of specialised units from all three

armed services A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

tasked with rapid deployment worldwide at short notice. The force was intended to be capable of mounting operations up to medium scale warfighting. It could be employed nationally, or multinationally under the auspices of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

or any other

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

. The JRRF was an initiative in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review. An initial rapid reaction capability was declared in April 1999 and was fully operational in 2001. It was originally intended that JRRF would be able to mount up to two simultaneous operations of up to 15,000 personnel each. A major

military exercise A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in Military education and training, training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of ...

called Saif Sareea II was held in

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

in September 2001 to test the deployment of the JRRF. In the event of the JRRF being activated, the force commander was the Chief of the Joint Rapid Reaction Force (CJRRFO) who was responsible to the Chief of Joint Operations (CJO) at the

Permanent Joint Headquarters The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London. The Permanent Joint Headqua ...

at Northwood. A Joint Task Force HQ (JTFHQ) would have accompanied the force to provide local command, which was maintained at 48 hours' notice to move. Until deployed, operational control of the various units was the responsibility of the single-service Commanders-in-Chief. Because of the United Kingdom's simultaneous commitments to operations in the War in Afghanistan from 2001 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there were insufficient uncommitted forces to support the JRRF. In 2010, the Lancaster House Treaties gave rise to the Anglo-French

Combined Joint Expeditionary Force The Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF, , FEIC) is a UK–French military force. It draws upon both the British Armed Forces and the French Armed Forces to field a deployable force with land, air and maritime components together with comma ...

(CJEF), which restored a rapid deployment capability, although there are no permanently assigned forces. In 2012, proposals were unveiled for the Joint Expeditionary Force, which can be deployed as an all-British force, or preferably in combination with other European allies.

Forces

The Joint Rapid Reaction Force can be deployed in three phases. The first element is known as the Spearhead Forces that are kept at a high state of readiness. This is composed of: *The Spearhead Land Element (SLE) of

special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

( SAS or SBS), and either 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 or a

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

group. *The Spearhead Naval Force (SNF) of two

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s or

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s, an

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants, and merchant vessels. In the Soviet Navy, Soviet and Russian Navy, Russian navies ...

and a support ship of the

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RF ...

. Following that, if required, is the First Echelon, composed of *A Maritime Task Group of major warships *A Mine Countermeasures Group *An Amphibious Task Group which can deploy *A Joint Landing Force drawn from either

3 Commando Brigade United Kingdom Commando Force (UKCF), previously called 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), is the UK's special operations-capable commando formation of the Royal Marines. It is composed of Royal Marine Commandos and commando qualified personnel f ...

16 Air Assault Brigade 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, known simply as 16 Air Assault Brigade from 1999–2021, is a formation of the British Army predominantly based in Colchester, Essex. It makes up the Air Assault Task Force, a battlegroup held at high readines ...

. In the final phase, a Second Echelon may be deployed, with further major naval units and ground forces from 1st (UK) Armoured Division and 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division. All of these elements can be supported by helicopters, transport and combat aircraft as required.

Deployments

Elements of the Joint Rapid Reaction Force were activated for the British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War in May to September 2000. The Spearhead Land Element consisted of the standby special forces squadron and 1 PARA plus a single rifle company of 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, both part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. Also deployed was an air element provided by the

Joint Helicopter Command The Joint Aviation Command (JAC), previously known as Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of all three services of the British Armed Forces and unmanned aerial vehicles of the B ...

, consisting of four RAF

CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a Military transport helicopter, heav ...

s which flew direct to Sierra Leone from the UK. A Royal Navy Carrier Group led by HMS ''Illustrious'' and an Amphibious Task Group led by were also deployed. Elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade were deployed to the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

as a spearhead for

Operation Essential Harvest Operation Essential Harvest (or Task Force Harvest) was a deployment mission in the Republic of Macedonia by NATO, officially launched on August 22, 2001, and effectively started on August 27. Because national contributions were larger than expecte ...

in August 2001, a NATO operation in support of a ceasefire ending the

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric nature: small irregular forces ...

. The brigade also formed the United Kingdom's first response to the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

.Ripley p. 154)

References

External links

The Permanent Joint Headquarters
(gov.uk) - some information on the JRRF as of December 2012 {{Authority control 21st-century military history of the United Kingdom 1999 in military history 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom Rapid reaction force units and formations Military units and formations of the United Kingdom

Forces

Deployments

See also

References

External links