British Forces Germany

British Forces Germany
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy British Army Royal Air Force
Part of	UK Ministry of Defence
Garrison/HQ	Bielefeld, Germany
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier Ian Bell

British Forces Germany (BFG), is the name for British Armed Forces service personnel and civilians based in Germany. It was first established following the Second World War as the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).

Although much smaller than BAOR, it is still the largest concentration of British armed forces permanently stationed outside the United Kingdom. With the end of the Cold War and the Options for Change defence review in the early 1990s, BFG has been considerably reduced. Since the 1990s, the British presence has centred on the 1st Armoured Division, and supporting elements. With restructuring under the Army 2020 change programme and with units rebasing, the majority of the remaining British service personnel in Germany are part of 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade.

Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the permanent deployment will end by 2020. As of 2015, there are 5,200 troops still in Germany.

First established following the Second World War, the forces grew during the Cold War, consisting by the early 1980s of I (BR) Corps made up of four divisions; 1st Armoured Division, 2nd Armoured Division, 3rd Armoured Division and the 4th Armoured Division.

Disbandment of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG) in 1994, following the end of the Cold War and the Options for Change defence review in the early 1990s, reduced the personnel strength of the British Armed Forces in Germany by almost 30,000 with just one division (1st Armoured Division) remaining. The British presence was estimated to have been contributing 1.5 billion Euros annually to the German economy in 2004. Following a further spending review, one brigade was withdrawn and Osnabrück Garrison closed in 2009.

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Wikipedia