Defence in London and the South East

Almost 87,000 MOD employees are based at or work at Defence sites in London and the South East. That's nearly 56,000 Armed Forces Personnel, and more than 31,000 civilians. A third of the Royal Navy recruits come from the South East. The Ministry of Defence spends more than £3bn in the South East every year, contributing significantly to the local economy and sustaining employment.

The region is home to 90 Reserve Navy, Army and Air Force Units with more than 8,000 personnel. Six hundred Cadet detachments throughout the region give 17,000 young people opportunities for adventure sports, and training in life skills and citizenship.

Defence assists the community in other ways too. The Armed Forces respond to requests for help from the Emergency Services, local authorities and other Government Departments in times of crisis: for example, units from the South East helped out during flooding and the foot and mouth epidemic, and provided cover during the fuel, fire and ambulance disputes. Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams assist the police every day in dealing with suspect packages and unexploded ordnance.

London

Naval Regional Headquarters is based at HMS President near Tower Bridge in London. This HQ is responsible for all Royal Navy profile and recruiting across the South East of England. This includes arranging visits to commercial ports in the region from both 120 Royal Navy warships, and those of other nations. It is also home to the Royal Naval Reserves in London.

The 200 personnel of Royal Marines Reserve London work alongside their regular comrades around the globe. Based in Bermondsey, the unit also has detachments in Chatham, Henley and Portsmouth.

HMS Illustrious and HMS Westminster are affiliated to London and visit the capital whenever operational commitments allow.

All Army units stationed within the M25 and in Windsor are commanded by Headquarters London District situated in the historic Horse Guards building, the original Guard Room of the Royal Palace of Whitehall. The building also accommodates the Headquarters of the Household Division, responsible for state ceremonial and public duties in London. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it served as the HQ for the entire Army and the Duke of Wellington's desk still remains in the Commander's office. Horse Guards is still the official entrance to the Royal Palaces in London and The Queen's Life Guard is based there, changing guard daily.

Military units in London include: the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park Barracks, the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, F Company Scots Guards and Household Division Bands in Wellington Barracks; Number 7 Company Coldstream Guards and Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards in Woolwich; and 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers in Hounslow. These units provide the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace and at Her Majesty's Tower of London.

Regents Park Barracks is home to 20 Transport Squadron Royal Logistic Corps.

At the heart of the Tower of London is the Regimental Headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The iconic Yeoman Warders are made up of retired military personnel who have an honourable service record of at least 22 years.

The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, currently based at St John's Wood but soon to relocate to Woolwich, fire ceremonial salutes for Royal and national events.

There are 5,000 members of the TA in London based at 40 centres across the capital and greater London - a figure that represents ten per cent of the national total. The London Regiment is one of the largest TA units in the country, while the Honourable Artillery Company, based just outside The City at Armoury House has a unique history dating back to 1537.

The British Forces Post Office which delivers millions of letters and parcels to our bases and diplomatic missions around the world is just one of the units based at RAF Northolt in West London - a high security airport often used by VIPs visiting the capital. Also based at Northolt is No 32 Squadron providing support to operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Defence Estates' flagship investment and restructuring programme, Project MoDEL, is currently working to combine operations from a number of Defence sites in Greater London at RAF Northolt.

The Ministry of Defence in Whitehall is where the key strategic decisions relating to defence policy and armed forces operations are taken. Civilian and military personnel work together to develop policy and advise ministers on everything from food procurement to the legal rules our forces must follow in war.

While the MOD provides political and strategic direction the Permanent Joint Headquarters runs major military operations overseas from a secure bunker in the leafy London suburb of Northwood.

The Royal College of Defence Studies is in Belgravia.

University of London Officer Training Corps is based in Russell Square.

All Army bandsmen are trained at Kneller Hall in Twickenham, one of the largest music schools in the country.

Middlesex

RAF Uxbridge provides administrative and training support to approximately 1,800 RAF personnel who are all located at sites in the London area and in the South East. The Station provides operationally focused training, physical and adventurous training activities, career and personal development training (including assisting in preparation for returning to civilian life), personnel and welfare support, medical and dental facilities, pay and allowances administration, supply of uniforms and domestic stores items, annual fitness tests and skills competencies such as fire fighting and weapons training.

RAF Bentley Priory closed on 31 May 2008. The Station was headquarters of Fighter Command during the Second World War and played a critical role in saving Britain during the conflict. Whilst the Bentley Priory site has been bought by a development company which has the intention of converting the mansion to luxury apartments, the main public areas of the Officers' Mess associated with Lord Dowding, Fighter Command and the Battle of Britain are to be developed into an education and heritage centre by the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust to commemorate those who fought and died in the Battle.

Hampshire

28,380 Armed Forces personnel are based in Hampshire.

Portsmouth is the historic home of the Royal Navy, and Her Majesty's Naval Base has been an integral part of the city since 1194. It is home to two thirds of the Navy's surface ships, including two aircraft carriers; destroyer and frigate squadrons; a mine countermeasure squadron; the Antarctic Survey Ship HMS Endurance; and numerous smaller vessels. The Naval Base also houses Admiral Lord Nelson's Flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory, the oldest commissioned warship in the world. Along with the Mary Rose, HMS Warrior and the Royal Naval Museum, she is located in a heritage area that welcomes half a million visitors a year.

Portsmouth Naval Base is a major employer with 17,200 people working at peak times and supporting the local community. The base is run by BVT Surface Fleet, a naval shipbuilding and support company that was formed in 2008 from a joint venture between BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions and VT Shipbuilding. It is Britain's newest shipbuilder and is contracted to construct and maintain the Navy's Daring class destroyers and two new aircraft carriers, which will be based in Portsmouth.

Royal Navy Fishery Protection Squadron patrols British waters daily to help the conservation of our fish stocks.

The Commander in Chief Fleet and his staff are responsible for all Naval operational matters and are housed at the historic Whale Island just north of the Naval Base; this is also home to the HQ of the Royal Marines, the Navy Command Headquarters, and the Headquarters of the Second Sea Lord, the Royal Navy's principal personnel officer.

The Portsmouth area is also home to several training establishments: HMS Collingwood Maritime Warfare School is the largest naval training organisation in Western Europe; HMS Temeraire provides Physical Training; HMS Excellent at Whale Island prepares Royal Navy personnel for life at sea.

HMS Southampton makes regular visits to its affiliated city, Southampton, and HMS Gleaner has close links with Beaulieu.

Marchwood Military Port, in Southampton Water, is Britain's only military port. It is operated by 17 Port and Maritime Regiment Royal Logistic Corps whose role is to load and discharge service or civilian shipping in support of military exercises and operations world wide. It is the home port for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Landing Ship Logistic and army vessels run by the Royal Logistic Corps.

Across the harbour entrance from Portsmouth is Gosport, home to HMS Sultan Marine and Air Engineering and Survival School; HQ Joint Medical Command; the College of Defence Medicine; and Qinetiq, whose scientific expertise and maritime research facilities support our current submarine fleet on operations. Nearby is the site of Vector Aerospace, an establishment that undertakes maintenance, repair and overhaul of Chinook CH-47, Lynx and Sea King helicopters. The Royal Navy Submarine Museum also resides in Gosport.

The newly refurbished Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham is host to Britain's largest Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit.

MDHU Portsmouth, one of five MDHUs around the UK, is home to some 290 military medics who work alongside their NHS colleagues, and also deploy from Portsmouth in support of operations. Their military colleagues in 33 Field Hospital RAMC are based in Gosport.

Just over the South Downs at Southwick Park lies the Defence College of Policing with its world-beating Forensics Training facilities.

The area around Aldershot was bought by Prince Albert to provide the first permanent purpose-built Garrison for the training and accommodation of the nation's fighting troops, and henceforth Aldershot has always been referred to as the "Home of the British Army". It is the base of HQ 4th Division which is responsible for administering 60% of the British Army; the HQ for 145 Southern Brigade which administers all units in Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire; HQ 101 Logistic Brigade, which provides support for all our frontline forces; and 11 Brigade, a temporary headquarters which will command UK forces in Afghanistan between October 2009 and April 2010.

Aldershot Garrison is being transformed by Project Allenby Connaught which will provide a complete package of single service accommodation and support services for Army personnel for 35 years. The project has an expected value of £8bn and is the Government's largest serviced Private Finance Initiative (PFI) estate project to date. Construction work started in St Omer Barracks in July 2006 and is expected to continue well into the next decade. In all some 100 new buildings will be erected, including individual single living accommodation for more than 1,000 soldiers. A further 30 military buildings will be refurbished and 130 demolished in the garrison.

Aldershot Garrison is home to the 1st Battalion of The Welsh Guards and the Coldstream Guards, the Royal Army Dental Corps, numerous other medical and logistic units and even the Army's Military Working Dog Support Unit. Aldershot also has the Army's only cathedral church and boasts Europe's biggest primary healthcare centre in the MOD/NHS-run Aldershot Centre for Health.

Aldershot is also home to the Defence Medical Services Training Centre at Keogh Barracks. DMSTC is part of Joint Medical Command and delivers individual medical services training to prescribed standards for 7,000 trainees every year.

The Army Physical Training Corps is based in Aldershot. As the Army's Centre of Sporting Excellence, Aldershot boasts several Olympic standard facilities.

The vast training area surrounding Aldershot garrison include the Army's principal shooting ranges at Ash and Bisley and the Eelmoor Driver Training Area where the MOD's latest equipment vehicles are put through rigorous trials prior to issue.

Middle Wallop, near Andover, is the home of the Army Air Corps. A long-established location for all forms of Army aviation, Middle Wallop is now the training school for the formidable Westland Apache Attack Helicopter.

Amport House, Andover, is the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre, a Headquarters for all faiths practised by members of the Armed Forces. Besides supporting the Service Chaplains, the Centre offers many courses to those who are interested in developing their ability to work with people in the Service community.

Winchester is the location of an Army Training Regiment, the Regimental Headquarters of The Light Infantry, the Royal Green Jackets, the Adjutant General's Corps and the Gurkhas. Recent arrivals at Winchester are the Army's trainee chefs who all undergo a rigorous training course at the newly opened Defence Food Services School, the biggest catering college in Europe.

There are extensive barracks, ranges and training areas throughout Hampshire including Longmoor Training Area near Liss, which is used for operational training for all three services, and which is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest; and Bordon Garrison, which is home to the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers' apprentice training school. Here soldiers learn the art of armour, metalsmithing and how to recover and fix the vast and varied fleet of military vehicles available to the modern soldier. The MOD intends to relocate armed forces training from Bordon to St Athan in South Wales which means that 2.4km2 of land will be released to enable the build of 5,500 homes, the creation of up to 7,000 jobs, a new town centre and associated infrastructure.

RAF Odiham is home to 3 Support Helicopter (SH) squadrons and one Army Air Corps (AAC) Lynx squadron. Nos 7, 18 (B) and 27 Squadrons, equipped with the Chinook, and No 657 Squadron (AAC) with its Lynx helicopters, operate in support of NATO throughout Western Europe , and UK interests worldwide, providing direct support to the Army.

Berkshire

The Household Cavalry Regiment, equipped with armoured reconnaissance vehicles, and 1st Battalion Irish Guards are based in Windsor.

Arborfield Garrison near Reading is a training base for the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers' Electronic and Aeronautical Engineering branch (SEAE) and the location of the Regimental Headquarters of the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Here potential craftsmen learn the trades of Aircraft Technician, and Avionics Technician or Land Systems Electronic Technicians.

42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic) are based at Hermitage near Newbury and supply the latest technological advances in mapping for all three services. Their unit is a direct descendant of the formidable force of surveyors who created the Ordnance Survey maps we all rely on today.

The Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston carries out research in support of our nuclear deterrent.

Kent

HMS Chatham and HMS Kent enjoy special links with a county with a rich maritime history.

Walmer Castle is the official residence of the Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports.

The Cinque Ports Training Areas in Hythe and Lydd are the most important training sites in the UK: this is where all British Troops train before deploying on operations.

Chatham, once a massive Naval Dockyard, still has a Royal Marine Reserve detachment and is now a commercially operated Heritage site.

Chatham is home of the Royal School of Military Engineering, a centre of excellence for the many skills of the Royal Engineers. With a 200-year history the school trains 5,500 military personnel each year in trades from basic construction to bridge building and mine sweeping. A £3 billion public private partnership contract with Holdfast is currently transforming the site. As part of this seven-year rebuild programme, bomb disposal and search training at the Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal School will move to a new site in Bicester Oxfordshire.

The HQ for the Army's 2 South East Brigade is based in Shorncliffe near Folkestone and administers all Army units in Kent, Sussex, and Surrey. Dover Castle is the home of the Brigade Commander, who has the honour of being "Keeper of the Keys to the Kingdom".

Shorncliffe is also home to the Brigade of Gurkhas whose two battalions regularly rotate between here and Brunei.

36 Engineer Regiment, a general support engineering unit, is based in Maidstone.

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland is based in Canterbury.

The Territorial Army has headquarters in Dartford, Tunbridge Wells, Rochester, Gillingham, Maidstone, Ashford, Canterbury and Dover.

The Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel Le Ferne commemorates the actions of the courageous aircrew who took on the might of the German Luftwaffe in one of the most iconic battles in British history.

The Duke of York's Royal Military School in Dover has been providing education for service children for a century.

Oxfordshire

RN survey vessel HMS Roebuck is affiliated to Didcot; and there is a Royal Marines Reserves detachment in Henley.

There are substantial Army logistic bases in Abingdon and Bicester, the latter housing a major defence storage site which is served by its own military railway. Abingdon is also the new home of TA reserve force The Rifles.

Didcot is home to the HQ of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Royal Logistic Corps, the Army's specialist unit responsible for counter terrorist bomb disposal and the recovery and safe disposal of conventional munitions. The Joint Service EOD Operations Centre, located with the Regiment's headquarters in South Oxfordshire is staffed 24/7, 365-days-a-year. Using a sophisticated GPS-based command and control system, the centre tasks the services' bomb disposal teams to terrorist and criminal bomb threats anywhere in the UK.

RAF Brize Norton is the largest station in the Royal Air Force, employing some 3,900 Service personnel and over 600 civilians. It is the main airport used for deploying UK troops worldwide. As the nerve centre of the RAF's strategic air transport capabilities, it has almost 30 long range transport and tanker aircraft. No 99 Squadron's C-17 aircraft provide support for operations and exercises throughout the world. No 101 Squadron's fleet of VC-10 air tankers boast the most experienced air-to-air refuelling experts in the world. Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, No 216 Squadron's Tri-Star fleet has been heavily involved in supporting operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Brize Norton is also the home of No 1 Parachute Training School and the RAF Parachute Display Team, the Falcons.

RAF Benson is a front line support helicopter base working within the Joint Helicopter Command. Located in South Oxfordshire, the Station is home to Puma helicopters of 33 Squadron, Merlin HC3 helicopters of 28 (Army Cooperation) and 78 Squadrons, and the Tutor aircraft of Oxford University Air Squadron.

The Defence Academy is the institution responsible for post-graduate education and the majority of command, staff, leadership, defence management, acquisition and technology training for members of the UK Armed Forces and MOD Civil Servants. The Defence Academy Headquarters, Joint Services Command and Staff College and College of Management and Technology are based in Shrivenham.

Buckinghamshire

Beaconsfield is home to the Defence School of Languages. It provides foreign language training to personnel from the British Armed Services, and English language training to personnel from Foreign Defence Forces to enhance military capability and contribute to Defence Diplomacy.

Milton Keynes has a sizeable reserve force of Riflemen and Royal Signals.

RAF High Wycombe is the location for HQ Air Command. The HQ was formed in 2007, when the RAF's Personnel and Training Command and Strike Command merged. The creation of a single Command enables the RAF to provide a single air-related point of focus. Air Command's role is to generate high-readiness forces that have the reach, speed and firepower to deliver immediate effect. This is just what air power provides and, as a result, it remains a key tool for demonstrating political intent, setting the conditions for follow-on forces and contributing to a broader military campaign.

RAF Halton is the RAF's premier non-technical ground training station. Courses prepare airmen and airwomen for every stage in their careers from basic recruits to trade training and on to further specialist and management qualifications. The RAF's Catering Training Squadron and Logistics and Supply Training Squadron are based here as is one of the MOD's fifteen Regional Rehabilitation Units for injured service personnel.

Sussex

HMS Shoreham, a Sandown class mine countermeasures vessel, enjoys close affiliations with the Sussex town of the same name.

47 Regiment Royal Artillery is based on Thorney Island near Chichester and provides ground to air defence capability with its High Velocity Missile System.

Crowborough Camp is the country's main training area for cadets.

Surrey

HMS Chiddingfold and HMS Richmond have special affiliations with the county.

The Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court is the premier facility for the rehabilitation of injured service personnel and leads the world in the field of prosthetics.

The Army has its largest initial training establishment for new recruits at Pirbright.

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is the centre of leadership training in the British Army. This is where all Army Officers complete their initial training alongside overseas cadets from up to 30 countries at any one time. The purpose of the Commissioning Course is to develop an officer with the generic leadership qualities to lead soldiers both on and off operations.

The Army Medical Directorate is based at Camberley and provides medical and veterinary policy for the Army in the United Kingdom and abroad.

The Headquarters of the Royal Logistic Corps is in Deepcut. The corps is nicknamed "The Loggies", or the "Really Large Corps", since the Corps forms approximately 17 per cent of the British Army (the single largest component). Soldiers can belong to one of 18 trade groups.

Keogh Barracks, Mytchett, is a training establishment for all Army medics. Training will move from here in the near future to a joint service training site in the Midlands.

The Combat Engineer School in Minley trains between 700 and 1,000 students a day. It offers 194 courses from bridging to water supply and demolition. Collocated in Minley is the Joint Civil Military Cooperation Group. This force multiplier has a key role in ensuring the success of our operations.

Military medics work alongside their NHS colleagues on military managed wards at Frimley Park Hospital near Camberley.

Military Units With Strong South East Connections

The Rifles are the largest reserve force in the region with bases in London, Farnham, Croydon, Reading, Abingdon, Milton Keynes, Aylesbury and High Wycombe.

The London Regiment is the capital's largest reserve forces unit.

The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment ("the Tigers"), now based in Germany, has its Regimental HQ in Canterbury and recruits from London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

The Gurkhas have their main base in Shorncliffe near Folkestone but also have units in Maidstone, Sandhurst, and Aldershot.

The Guards Regiments rotate regularly between bases in London, Windsor, Woolwich and Aldershot.

Defence Industry

South East based Defence industry employs 40,000 people: the highest concentration of Defence industry jobs anywhere in the country. At Farnborough and Fareham in Hampshire, Sevenoaks in Kent, and Chertsey in Surrey, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl) conducts some of the most sophisticated scientific research undertaken in the UK, employing Britain's leading scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

Farnborough is a major centre for defence industry. The major employer is BAE Systems, a global company engaged in the development, delivery and support of advanced Defence and aerospace systems in the air, on land and at sea. The third largest Defence company in the world, BAE Systems employs 105,000 and creates more than 100 new inventions a year. The Farnborough International Airshow is a showcase for civil and military aviation.

Thales UK is Britain's second largest defence company; its site in Crawley, West Sussex employs 2,500 people. Projects worked on here include the Watchkeeper unmanned air vehicle (UAV) programme, a range of work for the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (AirTanker) programme, high technology Soldier Systems and significant warship programmes for the Royal Navy, including the future aircraft carriers and Type 45 destroyers.

Purple Foodservice Solutions distribute fresh food for the Armed Forces from a warehouse in the heart of the Hampshire countryside to bases all over the UK, and wherever troops are based around the world. While Vestey Foods pack and distribute the operational ration packs for the frontline forces from a warehouse complex in Paddock Wood, Kent.

Portsmouth-based defence firm Accuracy International provides state-of-the-art sniper rifles for the British Armed Forces.

These are just a fraction of the world beating companies based in the South East that work to support our Armed Forces, every day.

Museums in the region

The lion's share of the UK's military history is in the SE. Here are some examples of just some of the sites open to the public:

London is home to six major military museums:

• National Maritime Museum in Greenwich;
• National Army Museum in Chelsea;
• "Firepower" the museum of artillery at Woolwich;
• Imperial War Museum in Lambeth;
• Guards Museum at Wellington Barracks, Westminster;
• RAF Museum in Hendon.

The Royal Engineers' Museum in Chatham and the nearby Chatham Historic Dockyard are two of the largest military museums in the UK.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is a heritage area that welcomes half a million visitors a year and includes HMS Victory, the Mary Rose, HMS Warrior and the Royal Naval Museum.

The D-Day Museum and Overlord Embroidery in Portsmouth commemorates the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, which marked the beginning of the end of World War II and the eventual liberation of Europe.

The Royal Marines Museum is in Eastney, Hants.

There is a Royal Armouries Museum in Fort Nelson, Portsmouth.

The Royal Navy Submarine Museum and Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower are in Gosport, Hants.

Aldershot Military Museum and the Army Physical Training Corps Museum are in the heart of Aldershot Garrison.

Middle Wallop, near Andover, is the home of the Museum of Army Flying.

Winchester is the location of the Museums of the Light Infantry, the Royal Green Jackets, the King's Royal Hussars, the Royal Hampshire Regiment, the Adjutant General's Corps and the Gurkhas.

The four collections of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC), Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC) and Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC) are held at the Army Medical Services Museum in Keogh Barracks, Mytchett in Surrey.

The Museum of the Royal Logistic Corps is in Deepcut, Surrey.

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers' Museum of Technology is in Arborfield, Berkshire.

The Royal Military Police Museum is in Southwick Park, Fareham, Hampshire.

Built in the early 1800's, the Redoubt Fortress defended the Eastbourne coast for nearly 200 years. Today it provides the perfect setting for the rich military collections of The Royal Sussex Regiment, The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars and The Sussex Combined Services.

Recruiting

If you want to learn more about the many and varied careers available in the Armed forces, Regular or Reserve, visit the following websites:

www.royalnavy.mod.uk/careers
www.army.mod.uk
www.rafcareers.com

For further general information, log on to one of the following websites:

www.mod.uk
www.royal-navy.mod.uk
www.army.mod.uk
www.raf.mod.uk

Useful contact telephone numbers for use by press and media:

MOD Duty Press Officer
0207 218 7907

Regional Defence Press Officer (South East)
0207 218 3259
susan.coulthard463@mod.uk

Navy Command Public Relations
02392 625380/81

Royal Navy Press Office Naval Base Portsmouth
02392 723737/3025

Army Press Office Headquarters London District
0207 414 2333/96

Army Press Office Headquarters 4th Division
01252 347011/12

Army Press Office 2 Brigade
01303 225112

Army Press Office 145 Brigade
01252 347944

Air Command Public Relations
01494 496130/31/32/33

UFO Helpline
01494 496254

Service Personnel & Veterans Agency
014527 12612 x 5508