Editing Ulster Defence Regiment (section)

===Battalion structure===
[[File:UDR Sign.jpg|thumb|UDR main gate sign denoting which companies are in barracks]]
The first seven [[battalion]]s raised made the UDR the largest infantry regiment in the British Army at that time.<ref name="autogenerated3" /> Two years later, four more were added, taking the total to eleven – [[8th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment|8th (County Tyrone)]]; [[9th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment|9th (Country Antrim)]]; [[10th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment|10th (City of Belfast)]] and [[11th Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment|11th (Craigavon)]].

The regiment was described in 1972 as:

<blockquote>Organised into 11 Battalions (59) companies: two in Belfast and the remainder cover county or sub-county areas. Seven of the eleven are commanded by regular commanding officers. In addition the training majors, quartermaster, regimental sergeant majors, chief clerks, and signaller NCOs are also regulars. There are a number of 'conrate' (full-time UDR) posts in each unit, including adjutants, permanent staff instructors, security guards, etc. Many of the officer and senior rank conrates are ex-regulars. The remainder are part-timers. Their main tasks are guarding key points, patrolling, and surveillance, and manning vehicle checkpoints. They do not operate in the 'hard' areas of Belfast, and are not permitted to become involved in crowd confrontations anywhere. Men are armed with self-loading rifles or sub-machine guns. The current strength of the Regiment is 7910.<ref name="Melaugh">{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/publicrecords/1973/subversion_in_the_udr.htm|title=CAIN: Public Records: Subversion in the UDR|first=Dr Martin|last=Melaugh|website=cain.ulst.ac.uk}}</ref></blockquote>

Until 1976 the full-time cadre were "conrates" (so called because they had a "consolidated rate of pay")<ref>Potter 2001. {{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{hansard|1972/feb/03/ulster-defence-regiment|access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref> whose duties consisted of guarding bases and carrying out administrative tasks. The role of the regiment was expanded by raising full-time platoons, known as "Operations Platoons", to perform duties on a 24-hour basis. The first of these was raised at 2 UDR under the command of a sergeant. By the end of the 1970s, the permanent [[En cadre|cadre]] had been raised to sixteen platoons. These were then increased to company strength with the conrate role being phased out and full-time UDR soldiers undertaking their own guard duties and administration.<ref>{{hansard|1976/dec/02/security-forces |accessdate=26 October 2008}}</ref>

[[File:11 UDR March Past.jpg|thumb|UDR march past at Mahon Road Barracks, [[Portadown]]]]
The full-time element eventually increased to more than half the total personnel.

In 1990, the regiment's numbers stood at 3,000 part-time and 3,000 full-time soldiers, with 140 attached regular army personnel in key command and training positions.<ref>Ripley, Chappell, p46</ref> The standard of training of the permanent cadre made them suitable to be used in much the same way as regular soldiers and it was not uncommon for regular army units to then come under local command and control of a UDR Battalion Headquarters.<ref>Ripley, Chappell, p47</ref>

The dispersal of UDR soldiers into their areas of responsibility was through sub-barracks of platoon or company size. Battalion headquarters would usually be located in the [[county town]], but not always as some counties had two battalions. Guarded by conrate soldiers, these barracks would become doubly active after 6{{small|pm}} as part-time soldiers arrived for evening duties. After [[Ulsterisation]] began in 1976, many battalion headquarters had full-sized permanent cadre companies and these would maintain a 24-hour presence in the battalion's "[[Area of responsibility|tactical area of responsibility]]" (TAOR).

An example of this structure can be seen in the make-up of 2 UDR based at [[Drumadd Barracks]] in Armagh:
{| class="wikitable" style="background:yellow;"
|-
! Company
! Part/Full-time
! Base
! Hours of duty
! Number on duty
|-
| HQ Coy
| Mixed
| Armagh, <small>Command, Control & Admin</small>
| Admin 9–5, Watchkeepers 24 hr
| 9-5 = 15, 24hr = 5
|-
| A Coy
| Full-time
| Armagh
| 24
| 35
|-
| B Coy
| Part-time
| Armagh/Newtownhamilton/Caledon
| 7{{nbsp}}pm{{snd}}2{{nbsp}}am
| 35
|-
| C Coy
| Part-time
| Glenanne
| 7{{nbsp}}pm{{snd}}2{{nbsp}}am
| 35
|-
| D Coy
| Part-time
| Loughgall
| 7{{nbsp}}pm{{snd}}2{{nbsp}}am
| 35
|}

Sub-headquarter units would maintain contact with their own patrols and HQ by radio. In many cases the radios were operated by Greenfinches (female soldiers),<ref>Potter p374</ref> whose husbands or sons and/or daughters were on one of the active patrols, which led to tense moments when mobile units or foot patrols came under attack and submitted a "contact report" by radio.