The Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment was a specialist expeditionary unit of 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 ...

. Personnel of the Joint CBRN Regiment were trained in the detection, identification and monitoring of

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: * Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

and

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

weapons. It was formed on 1 April 1999 as the Joint NBC Regiment, from a stated recommendation in the

Strategic Defence Review The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was a British policy document produced in July 1998 by the Labour Government that had gained power a year previously. Then Secretary of State for Defence, George Robertson, set out the initial defence policy of t ...

for an operational unit to support deployed forces of the

British military 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 NBC defence and assistance. In 2005, the name of the regiment was changed following the addition of

radiological In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visib ...

weapons to its remit, and the NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) designation changed to CBRN. There were five regular squadrons; four from the

1st Royal Tank Regiment The 1st Royal Tank Regiment (1 RTR) was an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps and operationally under 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingd ...

and one ( No. 27 Squadron) from the RAF Regiment. Two squadrons ( A and W) from the

Royal Yeomanry The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve light cavalry regiment of the British Army. Equipped with Supacat Jackal variants, their role is to conduct mounted and dismounted formation reconnaissance. The Regimental Headquarters is located in ...

and, from March 2004, 2623 Squadron RAF Regiment provided a reserve capability. On 21 July 2005, the name of the unit was changed from the Joint Nuclear Biological and Chemical Regiment (JNBCR) to the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment (JCBRNR). Elements of the Joint CBRN Regiment have since operated in this role in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

(on

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 ...

, in which the Royal Yeomanry squadrons combined into a single unit named Y Squadron) and

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 ...

. The regiment contributed to operations world-wide during every year of its formation. It was disbanded on 16 Dec 2011 as a result of the 2010 UK Strategic Defence and Security Review, with capabilities being transferred into the newly formed Defence CBRN Wing, formed by 26 and 27 Sqns RAF Regiment and 2623 Sqn RAuxAF Regiment. The FUCHS armoured vehicle was retired at this point. The 1st Royal Tank Regiment then became divisional troops within 3rd Mechanised Division. Nevertheless, in 2014, the Royal Tank Regiment formed up with one squadron, Falcon Squadron, dedicated towards CBRN, and brought the FUCHS vehicles back into service in 2016.

References

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External links

27 Sqn RAF Regiment1st Royal Tank Regiment post 1945 history
British administrative corps Military units and formations established in 1999 Joint military units and formations of the United Kingdom Military units and formations disestablished in 2011 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom 2011 disestablishments in the United Kingdom