British Forces Doctrine

[Chelco]

First off, BGCE1 is a great addition to the saga. Congrats to all involved. Now please keep them coming!

I was wondering if the doctrinal publications/field manuals of the British Armed Forces are as widely available as the ones of their US counterparts. Any pointers will be appreciated.

I ask this because I'm playing the first scenario (counter-recon, I think) and I was a bit surprised to see that my forces only have reconnaissance vehicles and no tanks. A typical US Cavalry formation would have some tanks, most of the times.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers,

[Gary Bezant]

British Armed forces doctrinal and training manuals are not available outside of the military because they are classified "Restricted".

The force reconnaissance role in the British Army is carried out by five Formation Reconnaissance Regiments. These regiments use the light Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance(Tracked) and normally come under the command of Div HQ. MBT's are not used in the reconnaissance role within the British Army.

There some excellent publications available that might help you understand how the British Army is structured and operates. Two that I would recommend are The British Army a Pocket guide by Charles Heyman. This book is updated every year and is a really good source of information on orbts and equipment. The other is 16 Air Assault Brigade by Tim Ripley, this book details the formation, orbat and operations of 16 air Assault. Both these books are available from Amazon.

I would also recommend the British Army web site www.army.mod.uk as another good source of information.

[Chelco]

Thanks Gary, good recomendations.

Cheers,

[Chelco]

Gary,

I've been thinking about this veil of secrecy the British forces have put in their military stuff. I've just finished reading "Apache" by Ed Macy and all the pictures of the pilots have a black square on their faces. Mr. Macy (not his real name), says it is required by the Govt. for their protection. But if you compare that with "House to House" (a book written by an American soldier), with all the names and pictures explicitly printed there. It makes me wonder: is this secrecy thing so wide-spread?

Bests,

[Gary Bezant]

I'm not involved with the UK military any longer so I cannot say with any certainty whether it is or is not a govt instruction that faces are blacked out. What I would say however is that there have been plenty of books and TV programmes featuring current British operations where the soldiers and airmans faces are clearly visable and names are mentioned.