REME of Army 2020

Thanks to another FOI answer, another bit of the absurd wall of silence held up by the British Army has fallen off, and we have a list of the intended sub-unit level structure of the REME under Army 2020. 

Thanks to the friend who made the FOI request, but it continues to be absurd that it even takes a FOI for the army to share some information about its post-cuts structure. 

 

ADAPTABLE FORCE

1 Close Support Battalion REME

-          4 CS Coy

-          12 CS Coy

Paired with 102 Battalion (Reserve)

-          124 Recovery Coy

-          186 Field Coy

-          146 Field Coy

-          147 Field Coy

2 Close Support Battalion REME

-          7 CS Coy

-          11 CS Coy

Paired with 106 Battalion (Reserve)

-          155 Recovery Coy

-          157 Field Coy

-          152 Field Coy

-          153 Field Coy

REACTION FORCE

3rd Armoured Close Support Battalion REME [aligned with 20 Armoured Infantry Brigade]

-          5 Armoured  Coy

-          20 Armoured Coy

-          18 Field Coy

Paired with 105 Battalion (R)

-          131 Recovery Coy

-          130 Field Coy

-          158 Field Coy

-          160 Field Coy

4 Armoured Close Support Battalion REME (aligned with 12 Armoured Infantry Brigade)

-          9 Armoured Coy

-          10 Armoured Coy

-          17 Field Coy

Paired with 103 Battalion (R)

-          150 Recovery Coy

-          128 Field Coy

-          133 Field Coy

-          169 Field Coy

6 Armoured Close Support Battalion REME (aligned with 1^st Armoured Infantry Brigade)

-          3 Armoured Coy

-          14 Armoured Coy

-          13 Field Coy

Paired with 101 REME Battalion (Reserve), even though the battalion is under command to 102 Logistic Brigade, Adaptable Force

-          119 Recovery Coy

-          125  Field Coy

-          127 Field Coy

-          159 Field Coy

5 Force Support Battalion REME

-          1 Field Coy

-          2 Field Coy

-          15 Field Coy

Paired with 104 REME Battalion (Reserve), even though the battalion is under command to 102 Logistic Brigade, Adaptable Force

-          118 Recovery Coy

-          126 Field Coy

-          129 Field Coy

-          148 Field Coy

Despite the pairing relationships being at odds with some of the assignments, the battalions are distributed through 101 and 102 Logistic Brigades in the following way:

101 Logistic Brigade, Reaction Force

3 Armoured Close Support Battalion REME

4 Armoured Close Support Battalion REME

6 Armoured Close Support Battalion REME

5 Force Support Battalion REME

103 Battalion REME (Reserve)

105 Battalion REME (Reserve)

102 Logistic Brigade, Adaptable Force

1 Close Support Battalion REME

2 Close Support Battalion REME

101 Battalion REME (Reserve)

102 Battalion REME (Reserve)

104 Battalion REME (Reserve)

106 Battalion REME (Reserve)

The REME also supply equipment support to 16 Air Assault Brigade, and carry out 2nd Line Equipment maintenance on the Army Air Corps helicopters. These tasks are covered by 7 Battalion:

7 Air Assault Battalion REME

-          8 Field Coy (PARA)

-          71 Aviation Coy

-          72 Aviation Coy

-          73 Aviation Coy

8 Field Coy is based in Colchester and directly supports 16 Air Assault Brigade.

8 Field Company had an establishment of some 150 men in 2012. Based in Colchester with 16 Air Assault brigade, it will re-ORBAT to support the cycle of readiness, probably by mixing its Forward and Support Platoons together and splitting the Airborne Forward Repair Team (the first technicians to parachute into an area of operations to support Drop Zone activities and early brigade movements) to form a couple of identical, full-spectrum platoons to rotate into readiness alongsides the other pieces of the Air Assault Task Force. 

71 and 72 aviation companies are based in Wattisham and aligned with the two Attack Helicopter Regiments, to which they provide 2^nd Line Equipment Support expertise.  

They alternate yearly into the High Readiness “Vanguard” role alongside the Apache regiments, being kept at R2 (5 days notice to move). Each company has two platoons, and each platoon will be responsible for 6 months of readiness, during which it will have to generate two Forward Repair Groups of 10 specialists each. This means one FRG for each of the Apache squadron's Close Support Sections REME in the at-readiness regiment. 

73 Aviation Coy will transfer from Wattisham to Yeovilton in the coming months, to permanently assume the role of provider of 2^nd Line Equipment Support for the Wildcat helicopters of 1^st AAC Regiment. 1^st Line Equipment Support is carried out by the REME elements of the Apache squadrons and of 1^st AAC regiment respectively. Apache squadrons have recently reverted to having their own REME workshop, while 1st AAC Regiment is expected to have one centralized REME squadron from which workshops will be generated to support deploying squadrons. The Royal Marines / Royal Navy technicians of 847 NAS will, when on base, be part of the centralized maintenance squadron, but will maintain their maritime focus and shipboard role when 847 NAS deploys at sea.