British Forces Gibraltar

British Forces Gibraltar
Country	United Kingdom (Gibraltar)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy British Army Royal Air Force
Part of	UK Ministry of Defence
Commanders
Current commander	Commodore Mike Walliker

British Forces Gibraltar is the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Gibraltar is used primarily as a training area, thanks to its good climate and rocky terrain, and as a stopover for aircraft and ships en route to and from deployments East of Suez or Africa.

Entrance to HMS Rooke at Queensway, Gibraltar - headquarters of Gibraltar Defence Police.

History

The last UK based army battalion left Gibraltar in 1991 and the Royal Gibraltar Regiment took charge of local defence under the command structure British Forces Gibraltar.^[1]

Permanent units

A handful of units are permanently based in Gibraltar for its territorial defence:

• HQ, British Forces Gibraltar
• Royal Gibraltar Regiment - the territory's permanently based light infantry battalion, consisting of both regular and reserve elements.
• Joint Provost and Security Unit
• Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron - two Scimitar class patrol boats, HMS Scimitar and HMS Sabre, and three Pacific 24 Rigid-hulled inflatable boats
• RAF Gibraltar - Gibraltar's military airfield has no resident units, but is utilised as and when required by aircraft on deployment or exercise.
• Gibraltar Defence Police - a civilian police force responsible for enforcing civil law on Ministry of Defence property in Gibraltar, and is responsible to Commander, British Forces Gibraltar. It also maintains two patrol boats and two 24 ft Rigid-hulled inflatable boats charged with protecting Gibraltar's maritime facilities. These are birthed alongside the Royal Navy's five vessels of the Gibraltar Squadron.

Commanders

Commanders have included:^[2]

• Rear Admiral Jeremy Sanders (April 1992 – December 1994)
• Major-General Simon Pack (December 1994 – April 1997)
• Commodore Alastair Taylor (April 1997 – June 1999)
• Commodore Andrew Willmett (June 1999 – December 2001)
• Commodore Richard Clapp (December 2001 – May 2004)
• Commodore David White (May 2004 – 8 January 2005)^[3]
• Commodore Allan Adair (19 January 2005 – 1 May 2007)^[4]
• Commodore Matthew Parr (1 May 2007 – February 2009)^[5]
• Commodore Adrian Bell (February 2009 – September 2010)^[6]
• Commodore Tom Karsten (September 2010 – November 2012)^[7]
• Commodore John Clink (November 2012 – August 2014)^[8]
• Commodore Ian McGhie (August 2014 – July 2016)^[9]
• Commodore Mike Walliker (July 2016 – Present) ^[10]

See also

• List of British Army installations

Notes

1. "The British Army in Gibraltar". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
2. "Senior Royal Navy appointments" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
3. "Body of Gibraltar commander found". BBC News. 9 January 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
4. "The Permanent Joint Headquarters". Gov.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
5. "Military teams triumph in the Gibraltar Triathlon". News. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
6. "Gibraltar: British could have fired on Spanish police launch". News Focus. 12 December 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
7. "CBF Gibraltar promotion to Rear-Admiral". Gibraltar Chronicle. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
8. "Commodore John Clink is new CPF". Gibraltar Chronicle. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
9. "New CBF for Gibraltar as Commodore Clink Accepts Rear Admiral Promotion". Your Gibraltar. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
10. GBC News (2016-07-13), CBF Retires, and Stays in Gibraltar, retrieved 2016-07-14

External links

• British Forces Gibraltar Community Site