Adjutant General's Corps
The Adjutant General's Corps is a corps in the British Army responsible for many of its general administrative services, named for the Adjutant-General to the Forces (now the Commander Home Command). As of 2002, the AGC had a staff of 7,000 people.
| Adjutant General's Corps | |
|---|---|
Cipher of the AGC | |
| Active | 6 April 1992 – present |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Role | Administrative services |
| Garrison/HQ | Worthy Down Camp, Winchester[1] |
| Motto(s) | Animo et fide (With resolution and fidelity) |
| March | Quick March. Pride of lions; Slow march. Greensleeves |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash | |
History
The corps was formed on 6 April 1992 through the amalgamation of several separate services:[2]
- Army Legal Corps
- Corps of Royal Military Police
- Military Provost Staff Corps
- Royal Army Educational Corps
- Royal Army Pay Corps
- Women's Royal Army Corps
- Staff clerks from the Royal Army Ordnance Corps
- Clerks from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
In October 2022, to celebrate the Corps' 30th anniversary, a parade was held in Winchester, in the presence of The Duchess of Gloucester, Deputy Colonel in Chief.[3]
Organisation
The AGC is organised into the following branches:[2]
Staff & Personnel Support (SPS) Branch
The SPS branch provides specialist HR, Finance, Accounting and ICT support to the British Army, during peacetime and on operations. Its personnel serve alongside and administer every unit in the British Army. The branch also provides clerical support to headquarters at all levels including various departments of the MOD Head Office in Whitehall and the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) at Northwood working alongside counterparts in the Royal Navy and RAF, as well as in divisional and brigade headquarters and at unit and sub-unit level through Land Forces. In addition to HR, administrative and clerical support, the SPS Branch also maintains the Army Welfare Service, where its small cohort of Army Welfare Workers - trained social and occupational welfare specialists - provide therapeutic support to Army personnel and their families.[4]
In 2011, Gurkha clerks and administrative personnel who, up to that point, had served under the Royal Gurkha Rifles cap badge, were brought into a single unit titled the Gurkha Staff and Personnel Support Company (GSPS Coy). Following the traditions of the Queen's Gurkha Engineers, Queen's Gurkha Signals and the Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, the GSPS Coy has a cap badge that combines elements of both its parent corps (the AGC) and the Brigade of Gurkhas, of which it is a constituent alongside the other Gurkha units in the British Army.[5]
Provost (AGC Pro) Branch
The AGC Pro unifies two former services which, while no longer independent, retain their identities and cap badges. The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the Army's police force, while the Military Provost Staff (MPS) provides guards for military prisons. The newly formed Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS) is also part of this branch.[6]
Educational Training and Services Branch
The ETS Branch has the responsibilities of the former Royal Army Educational Corps, it is an all officer branch with around 400 serving members. In 2006 the former RAEC cap badge of a 'fluted flambeau with five flames, with crown and scroll' was reintroduced, with 'ETS' replacing 'R.A.E.C.' on the scroll.[7]
Army Legal Services
The ALS Branch provides legal advice to all levels of the Army. It retains the cap badge of the former Army Legal Corps. Prior to its amalgamation into the AGC, it was an independent corps in its own right. Its personnel are all qualified lawyers and commissioned officers.[8]
CRHQ
Almost all corps of the British Army contain a CRHQ (Central Reserve Headquarters) which oversee training for the corps along with controlling specialist units and formations. The Adjutant General's Corps currently maintains two specialist pools:[9]
- CRHQ Adjutant General's Corps Educational Training and Services Specialist Pool
- CRHQ Adjutant General's Corps Staff and Personnel Support Specialist Pool
Museum of the Adjutant General's Corps
The Museum of the Adjutant General's Corps is based at Peninsula Barracks in Winchester. It is one of several regimental museums that are part of Winchester's Military Museums.[10]
References
- ^ "Adjutant General's Corps Association". Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ a b "Adjutant General's Corps". www.army.mod.uk.
- ^ "Adjutant General's Corps celebrates 30 years with freedom parade". Forces Net. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ "Staff and Personnel Support". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ^ "Brigade of Gurkhas". www.army.mod.uk.
- ^ "Military Provost Guard Service". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
- ^ "Army Dress Regulations 2017" (PDF).
- ^ "ALS history". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ^ "Army Reserve unit changes since 2015" (PDF). whatdotheyknow.com. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "Museum of the Adjutant General's Corps". Adjutant General's Corps Regimental Association. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
External links
- Official site
- AGC (SPS Branch)
- AGC (ETS Branch)
- AGC Regimental Association
- AGC entry on the UK Armed Forces site