Defence Intelligence and Security Centre

The Defence Intelligence and Security Centre (DISC) is the location of the headquarters of both the Defence College of Intelligence and the British Army Intelligence Corps. It is located at Chicksands, Bedfordshire, approximately 35 mi north of London.

Site History
Chicksands was the site of RAF Chicksands, an RAF signals collection station during and after the Second World War; during the war, it was one of the "Y-Stations" which sent intercepted signals to the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, where ciphers and codes of several Axis countries were decrypted, most importantly the ciphers generated by the German Enigma and Lorenz machines. The station was used by the United States Air Force from 1950 to 1995, also for signals collection, being the location for its first 1443 ft diameter FLR-9 direction finding antenna, commonly known as the Elephant Cage, from 1963 to 1995. The site was closed as an RAF station in 1997, then handed over to the Intelligence Corps allowing the Corps Headquarters and training delivery to re-locate from Templer Barracks in Ashford, Kent.

Defence College of Intelligence
The Defence College of Intelligence (DCI) is responsible for delivering training in intelligence and security to members of the British Armed Forces, police and other public sector staff as well as international partners. Training is delivered over three sites, Chicksands, Defence School of Language Beaconsfield and the School of Photography at the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering, Cosford.

HQ Intelligence Corps
The Headquarters of the Intelligence Corps is located on site, with all core training for Intelligence Corps soldiers and officers being delivered through the DCI.

HMS Ferret
HMS Ferret (shore establishment 1982) is a training unit of the Royal Naval Reserve which delivers intelligence-related operational capability.

15 (United Kingdom) Psychological Operations Group
15 (United Kingdom) Psychological Operations Group is a tri-service, or "purple", military unit parented by 1 Military Intelligence Brigade comprising over 150 personnel, approximately 75 from the regular Armed Services and 75 from the Reserves. The Group supports deployed commanders in the provision of psychological operations in operational and tactical environments.

15 (UK) PSYOPS Group was established immediately after the 1991 Gulf War when the success of US military psychological operations convinced the Ministry of Defence that the UK required a similar capability. Initially it was composed of just a single desk officer with the intention that it would be augmented by additional personnel when required. As such the Group was referred to in military terminology as a 'shadow' unit. Subsequently conspiracy theorists have suggested incorrectly that 'Shadow' was a covert code name for the Group and members of the Group have been targeted in the press.

Since 1991 the Group has grown significantly in size to meet operational requirements and has participated in every major UK military operation since that period. The Group's Honorary Colonel is Lieutenant General Sir Paul Newton, formally Commander of Force Development and Training for the British Army.

In October 2012, the Group was awarded the Firmin Sword of Peace for its "valuable contribution to humanitarian activities by establishing good and friendly relations with the inhabitants of any community at home or overseas". The citation noted that: "A small team from 15 POG has been continuously deployed to Helmand for six years. Working predominantly with the Afghan civilian population, it has sought to inform, reassure, educate and through the promotion of free and unbiased discussion persuade Afghans that their futures are best served not with the Taliban, nor with ISAF, but with themselves and their elected government. The unit runs a network of radio stations employing local Afghans as DJs, broadcasting music, poetry, debate programmes and even a Helmandi soap opera, as well as producing graphical posters and leaflets to communicate in an area where literacy rates are only around 20%. Recent projects include information campaigns to prevent children picking up spent ordnance they find, disseminating information from farming and veterinary workshops using their radio stations, and promoting debate on political issues of the day".

The Sword was presented to the Group's then Commanding Officer Commander Steve Tatham RN at a ceremony in London by the Chief of Defence Staff General Sir David Richards. The award was covered by the BBC which was granted exclusive access to the Group.

Other resident units

 * Intelligence Corps Museum
 * Army Cadet Force detachment