British Forces Cyprus

British Forces Cyprus (BFC) is the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the UK sovereign base areas of Dhekelia and Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus. The United Kingdom retains a military presence on the island in order to keep a strategic location at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, for use as a staging point for forces sent to locations in the Middle East and Asia. BFC is a tri-service command, with all three services based on the island reporting to it. At present, there are approximately 3,500 personnel serving in Cyprus.

History
Following the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, the UK retained two Sovereign Base Areas in Akrotiri and Dhekelia and an RAF air marshal was appointed as the Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas. The following year the British Forces Near East organization was created, the command of which was then held concurrently with that of the post of Administrator. On 1 March 1961 the Southern Group of Middle East Air Force became Near East Air Force and was based in Cyprus. By 1962 the title British Forces in Cyprus was in official use.

Command
Episkopi is the current command center of British Forces Cyprus. The commander of the Sovereign Base Areas/British Forces Cyprus (CBF) is a two-star appointment, alternating every three years between the Army and the RAF. Consequently, the Deputy British Forces Cyprus (DBFC) is a one-star appointment from the opposite service of the commander.

The current CBF is Major-General Richard J. Cripwell and the DCBF is Air Commodore Andrew Huggett. Episkopi Cantonment is home to the Sovereign Base Areas Administration, the civilian authority in the territory.

Force structure
Within British Forces Cyprus are a number of permanently based units; however, the large proportion of British forces in Cyprus are on operational tours:
 * Permanent Units
 * HQ, British Forces Cyprus
 * Joint Service Signal Unit (Cyprus) (Ayios Nikolaos Station)
 * Cyprus Communications Unit, (an amalgamation of 12 Signals Unit RAF & 259 Signal Squadron, Royal Signals)
 * Cyprus Service Support Unit
 * No 84 Squadron, RAF
 * Resident infantry battalions - two light role infantry battalions, one at Dhekelia and one at Episkopi, are permanently based on the island; the battalions are usually rotated every two years. The two battalions stationed in Cyprus are the theatre reserve for Afghanistan
 * 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (Episkopi)
 * 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (Dhekelia)
 * Cyprus Joint Police Unit (CJPU), a Tri-Service Military Police Unit consisting of Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and RAF Police.
 * HQ CJPU - Episkopi
 * 1 Platoon CJPU - Dhekelia
 * 2 Platoon CJPU - Episkopi
 * 3 Platoon CJPU - Akrotiri
 * SIB Cyprus
 * ESBA Section SIB


 * Civilian Components
 * Sovereign Base Areas Customs
 * Sovereign Base Areas Police
 * Security Force Police

History
Cyprus was the last location in which the Royal Armoured Corps used FV601 Alvis Saladin, Ferret armoured car and Alvis Saracen armoured vehicles, long after they had fallen out of use by the regular Army. They were still being used by the Cyprus Armoured Squadron well into the mid 1980s. An even stranger situation developed when the resident Royal Air Force Regiment Squadron was equipped with FV101 Scorpion and FV103 Spartan CVRT at RAF Akrotiri for airfield defence; this meant that the RAF had better armoured vehicles than resident Army units. The last British Army unit to train soldiers in the use of the Ferret was 1st Bn Royal Irish Regiment at Episkopi during 1992; it was finally withdrawn in 1994, being replaced by Saxon APC.

Future
In the future, The Queen’s and King’s Divisions will continue to move battalions through Cyprus every 3 years. The 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment will be stationed there in 2013 and the 2nd Battalion Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment will rotate into Cyprus in 2014. These are both Foxhound-mounted infantry battalions. An update plan of which units will rotate can be found on page 9 of this document.

Commanders
The following officers have been in command of British Forces Cyprus:


 * 16 August 1960 Air Marshal Sir William MacDonald (Administrator from 1960, also Commander British Forces Near East from 1961)
 * 16 July 1962 Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Barnett
 * 25 September 1964 Air Marshal T O Prickett
 * 21 November 1966 Air Marshal E G Jones
 * 6 May 1969 Air Marshal D G Smallwood
 * 2 July 1970 Air Marshal W D Hodgkinson
 * 25 June 1973 Air Vice-Marshal J A C Aiken
 * 1 April 1976 Air Vice-Marshal R D Austen-Smith
 * 28 April 1978 Major-General W R Taylor
 * 3 October 1980 Air Vice-Marshal R L Davis
 * 31 March 1983 Major-General Sir Desmond Langley
 * 29 October 1985 Air Vice-Marshal K W Hayr
 * 21 April 1988 Major-General J P W Friedberger
 * 1990 Air Vice-Marshal A F C Hunter
 * 25 March 1993 Major-General A G H Harley
 * 17 February 1995 Air Vice-Marshal Peter Millar
 * 16 January 1998 Major-General A I Ramsay
 * 5 September 2000 Air Vice-Marshal T W Rimmer
 * 5 September 2003 Major-General P T C Pearson
 * 26 April 2006 Air Vice-Marshal R H Lacey
 * 16 October 2008 Major-General J H Gordon
 * 4 November 2010 Air Vice-Marshal G E Stacey

Operation TOSCA
Operation TOSCA is the name given to the British contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The British Contingent (BRITCON) numbers 278, and consists of three distinct parts:
 * HQ BRITCON - responsible for the administration and support of the British Contingent.
 * Force Military Police Unit- the FMPU is commanded by a major of the Royal Military Police, with seven other members of the RMP as part of the multi-national unit.
 * UN Roulement Regiment - the URR is usually provided by the Royal Artillery or the Royal Logistic Corps and has responsibility for patrolling Sector 2 of the Green Line in Nicosia. Between October 2008 and April 2009, this role was filled by 32 Signal Regiment Group, a composite TA unit. This was the first time a TA unit had been deployed on a UN Peacekeeping mission

One of the roles of the support units of BFC is to assist as needed the British units deployed with UNFICYP, which are not part of BFC, but are instead under the direct command of the United Nations.