Our Role
16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team’s (BCT) core role is to maintain and command the Air Manoeuvre Task Force (AMTF), comprising infantry and aviation battlegroups held at very high readiness to deploy anywhere in the world to carry out the full spectrum of missions, from non-combatant evacuation operations to war fighting. Based in Colchester, Essex, the BCT’s Headquarters includes Army and Royal Air Force personnel enabling it to plan and execute air manoeuvre operations.
It is at the forefront of developing interoperability with the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and the French Army’s 11e Brigade Parachutiste.
Recent operational deployments include the evacuation of Kabul in August 2022, delivering medical care in Turkey after the February 2023 earthquake, and the evacuation of Sudan in April 2023.
Timeline
16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team was formed on 1 September 1999 from two existing formations, 5 Airborne Brigade and 24 Airmobile Brigade.
Its emblem is drawn from Greek mythology and depicts the warrior Bellerophon astride the winged horse Pegasus, with a soldier being delivered to battle by air as the BCT’s defining role.
Its soldiers wear the maroon beret, a colour adopted when British airborne forces were formed in the Second World War that has become an international symbol of airborne forces.
Formed on 1 September 1999 from two pre-existing formations.
Led Operation Pitting, the evacuation of 15,000 entitled people from Kabul.
Delivered medical care in Turkey after the February earthquake.
Supported the evacuation of entitled people from Sudan.
Our contact details
Telephone
01234 876543
Address
Merville Barracks
Colchester
Circular Road South
CO2 7UT
Colchester
Circular Road South
CO2 7UT