Response Force Task Group proves its strength

The man who led the Navy’s biggest deployment of the year says Britain’s new task group has passed its first acid test.  With all but one of the ships in the force he commanded now back in the UK, Commodore John Kingwell praised the men and women of the Response Force Task Group, which numbered more than half a dozen ships and well over 2,000 personnel, for their work off Libya and beyond.

As Commander UK Task Group, he led the force – Her Majesty’s Ships Albion, Ocean, Liverpool, Triumph, Sutherland and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries Argus and Cardigan Bay, among others, plus elements of numerous Naval Air Squadrons and the Royal Marines of 42 Commando – on Cougar 11.

The deployment had lined up long-planned exercises in the Mediterranean and Middle East over the spring and summer.

Although many of those exercises were carried out – notably in Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – the Cougar force split to support operations in Libya:

Liverpool, which returned to Portsmouth on Monday, played a key role in the air, land and sea operations;

Triumph launched a series of Tomahawk cruise missile strikes, including the very first actions of the NATO mission;

Nearly 50 Apache gunship missions were launched from the deck of HMS Ocean, which also served as the launchpad for ‘eye in the sky’ Sea Kings to find a safe path for those Army Air Corps helicopters.

Britain’s biggest warship remains deployed right now; Sutherland stepped in to pummel targets ashore when Liverpool was undergoing maintenance.

“I am very proud of all that the Response Force Task Group’s sailors, marines, soldiers – let’s not forget that the attack helicopters are Army Air Corps – and airmen have achieved and continue to achieve,”

Cdre Kingwell said.

“The task group proved to be able to operate as singletons or in formation and the lead commando group with its shipping allowed me to offer a range of options in response to unfolding humanitarian events throughout the region.

“Launching attack helicopter strike operations from Ocean proved the ability of the task group to conduct maritime strike operations – both from submarines and now helicopter carriers.”

The task group was formed in February out of last year’s Defence Review, combining the previous amphibious and carrier strike groups.

The Commander UK Task Group (or COMUKTG) and his staff are responsible not just for the nation’s Response Force Task Group – all four capital ships (Bulwark, Albion, Illustrious and Ocean) and their supporting escorts and auxiliaries – but also the Anglo-Dutch Amphibious Task Group and, when required, NATO, European Union and Coalition naval forces on maritime and amphibious operations.

The staff comprises personnel from all three Services, including all warfare disciplines in the Royal Navy, amphibious, submarine and surface warfare experts and authorities on helicopter and fast jet operations, supported by specialists from the world of intelligence, communications and logistics.

At times during the Cougar deployment and Libya operations, the staff were spread across seven locations, including the flagships of three nations.

“The challenge has been to bring all of this together as one team and I think we can say that Cougar has clearly shown that we’ve done that,”

said Cdr Tom Guy, task group Chief-of-Staff.

“We are truly a joint staff, but there is only one of us – our challenge is to maintain our high degree of readiness on an enduring basis.

“From the day they join to the day they leave, every member of the staff is at 48 hours’ notice to deploy.

"The message is: You don’t join the Commander UK Task Group if you want a quiet life.”

Which is something Cdre Paddy McAlpine will discover from Tuesday when the former captain of HMS Daring takes over the reins at the COMUKTG headquarters in RM Stonehouse in Plymouth.

“I’ve enjoyed every moment of my command and it’s been a huge honour to have helped establish, and then employ, such an impressive capability,”

said Cdre Kingwell.

“Although my time as Commander UK Task Group has been relatively short, the Response Force Task Group is now well placed to form the core of the Royal Navy’s contribution to the nation’s contingent forces.”