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24. Use of Present Army Resources. Of those units required to be immediately available, one battalion is already committed to Border surveillance and security The remaining four and a half (4) required for IS duties in the urban areas must also, if they are to have adequate local knowledge and be fully effective to give immediate assistance, be resident in the Colony. These could be provided from the remaining four infantry battalions of the present garrison and two batteries of the present artillery regiment. The engineer squadron is also already in the Colony.
25. Reinforcement. Of the troops required to meet the reinforcement figures, up to three infantry battalions would have to come from UK or from elsewhere in SE Asia. During the 1967 disturbances, a reinforcement Gurkha battalion was moved to the Colony from Malaysia, and later relieved by a second battalion from the same source. A similar arrangement, whereby a reinforcement battalion could be provided at very short notice would be highly desirable in any future emergency, as only the minimum force and no reserve has been allowed for to meet the immediate requirement. The need for only one reinforcement battalion, at any one time, in 1967 should not be regarded as necessarily indicative of our needs for any future emergency.
If the disturbances had little external support, it is possible that the full scale of reinforcements might not be required. On the other hand, the population has increased since 1967 and has produced particularly heavy conurbations as satellite towns, which have great potential as trouble spots.
POSSIBLE ARMY SAVINGS
26. The assessment of immediate requirements gives a theoretical saving on the present Garrison of half a major unit at present available for IS. This is arrived at by excluding the close support battery, for the border, from the immediate requirement and, likewise, the armoured reconnaissance squadron in its border deterrent role. There would be, however, a number of disadvantages in removing either of these sub-units or of substituting a less expensive infantry element as a replacement for the other two artillery batteries:
a.
The artillery regiment has a viable dual role and the battery earmarked for the close support task could be considered as a much needed reserve for IS, until such time as it was required to deploy with its guns. addition to these operational tasks, the artillery regiment is invaluable in helping to train the infantry battalions, all of which have a close affiliation with one of the batteries for training purposes.
b.
In
The Scorpions of the armoured reconnaissance squadron are a very tangible expression of military effectiveness and, seen as "tanks", could make an impact on the public denied to other equipments. In this respect, they would
SECRET