Arms and Operational Tour Plots
1. Periodically, units in the Royal Armoured Corps and the Infantry, and some in the Royal Artillery, move geographically and change role. Thus, for example, a battalion forming part of the Cyprus Garrison may move to Colchester to become an airmobile infantry battalion in 24 Brigade. This regime is known as the Arms Plot.
2. The requirement for the Arms Plot lies in the need for all units to gain experience in a variety of roles and locations - which is essential in maintaining capable, all-round professional forces - and to avoid the loss of operational freshness which may result from employing units for long periods on the same tasks. Arms which are subject to this regime are those where the maintenance of unit identity and the cohesion it engenders are recognised as fundamental to operational effectiveness. In this way, the Arms Plot is complementary to the rationale for the regimental system. Units from other Arms and Services are not involved in the Arms Plot: soldiers are posted between different units every few years as individuals.
3. Arms Plot tours range from nine years for armoured regiments in Germany to two years for resident infantry battalions in Northern Ireland and Cyprus. In addition to these tours, units also undertake short - usually six-month - unaccompanied tours, known as operational tours. There are currently six operational tour commitments at broadly battalion size for the Infantry: four in Northern Ireland and two in Bosnia. In addition, the Hong Kong commitment, currently undertaken by a resident Gurkha battalion, will be met by units on operational tours for the period from October 1996 until withdrawal in 1997. There are also regimental-sized commitments in Bosnia for the Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Artillery, the Royal Engineers and the Royal Logistic Corps. In addition, there are a number of smaller operational commitments spread across the Army.
4. Concern has been expressed at the frequency with which units are required to undertake operational tours, and of the way in which this might affect their training for other roles and hence limit their operational effectiveness, as well as requiring soldiers to be away from their families for protracted periods. We recognise those concerns. On the other hand, it is meeting the challenges of operational duty which attracts many to join the Army in the first place. The Department has long held the view that the balance between activity and stability should be rooted in a target for the average interval between operational tours of around 24 months. This average 'operational tour interval' is calculated by relating the number of operational commitments to the number of units in an Arm available to undertake them (in the Infantry, for example, this excludes a number of battalions such as those resident in Northern Ireland). In 1995-96, operational tour intervals were 60 months for the Royal Armoured Corps, 48 months for the Royal Artillery, 22 months for the Infantry and 11 months for the Royal Engineers. In the nature of averages, some units had a shorter actual interval between tours, while for others the interval was greater. On the basis of current commitments (including the Hong Kong commitment from later this year), average tour intervals in 1996-97 are projected to be 25 months for the Royal Armoured Corps, 24 months for the Royal Artillery, 20 months for the Infantry and 12 months for the Royal Engineers.
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