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Ulster Defence Regiment
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==Structure== ===Command structure=== {{See also|List of battalions and locations of the Ulster Defence Regiment}} [[File:Stable Belt Colours - UDR.png|thumb|right|200px|UDR stable belt colours]] Unlike the USC, who were controlled by the [[Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland|Stormont government]] in Belfast, the UDR was under the direct command of the General Officer Commanding [[HQ Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland]] (GOCNI), the commander of the British Army in Northern Ireland.<ref>Ryder, p31</ref> A six-man UDR Advisory Council (three Protestant and three Catholic) was formed and chaired by the [[colonel commandant]]. Its brief was "to advise the GOCNI on policy for the administration of the Ulster Defence Regiment, in particular on recruitment; and on such specific matters as the GOCNI might refer to the council."<ref>{{hansard|1970/jan/21/ulster-defence-regiment|house=written|access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref> The regiment would be commanded by a regular army brigadier. Battalions were to be commanded by "local members of the force".<ref name=Potter19/> Commanding officers were initially former County [[Commandant]]s from the disbanded USC. All were men of previous military experience, such as [[Dublin]]-born Desmond Woods who had at one time been the youngest winner of the Military Cross (serving with the Royal Ulster Rifles)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1406161/Lt-Col-Desmond-Woods.html |title=Lt-Col Desmond Woods |newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2002-09-04 |access-date=2013-07-17 |location=London}}</ref> and [[Michael Torrens-Spence]] DSO, [[Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)|DSC]], [[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)|AFC]]. All were appointed [[lieutenant colonel]] on a one-year contract.<ref>Potter p44</ref> However, some of these men were already past retirement age and after their year's contract was up they were replaced by lieutenant colonels from the regular army, the first of these being Lt Col Dion Beard of the [[1st Royal Tank Regiment]] (1 RTR) who took over at 3 UDR on 15 February 1971.<ref name="Potter-p45">Potter p45</ref> The policy of appointing regular officers was not universally popular within the regiment, with the public or with some politicians,<ref name="Potter-p45" /> but the British Army persisted in replacing former USC commanding officers and by the time of amalgamation, around 400 regular army officers had served in these posts, some of whom went on to achieve [[general officer]] rank.<ref name="Potter-p45" /> A newspaper for the regiment was published, called "Defence".<ref name="Ryderp">Ryder p66</ref> Commanders were able to communicate their views through this as well as through Part 2 Orders (routine orders) which, as with every British Army unit, were displayed on company noticeboards and were compulsory reading.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://regimentalrogue.com/srsub/army_customs_1956_sect8.htm |title=Customs of the Army (1956); Section 8 |publisher=Regimentalrogue.com |access-date=2013-08-18}}</ref> ===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 β [[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 9β5, 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.
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