THE reshaping of the army has continued under the Army 2020 plan.

At a ceremony held at its headquarters in Sennelager in Germany, 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade (The Iron Fist) raised the Iron Triangle flag of Bulford based 3rd (UK) Division as it came under command in preparation for its move to Salisbury Plain over the next three years.

At a parade held at Antwerp Barracks, the Commander of 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, Brigadier Ian Mortimer addressed the assembled soldiers, saying: “Today is absolutely historic for us as we join 3rd (UK) Division, based on Salisbury Plain, and we begin to shift our focus from Germany back to the UK.

“As an 'armoured infantry' brigade, we will train for the full spectrum of tasks that we may be called upon to do.

“We are a war-fighting brigade and we are going to be optimised for high-intensity warfare as part of the British Army’s ‘Reaction Force’”.

20th Armoured Infant-ry Brigade was the last brigade to serve on operations in Iraq and its soldiers are currently serving in Afghanistan on Operation Herrick 20.

Although it is not deployed as a formed headquarters it is responsible for ensuring that all regiments and battalions serving in Afghanistan under the recently closed Task Force Helmand (TFH) Headquarters are trained to the highest standards for the final mission.

The headquarters of 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade is currently located in Sennelager, on the outskirts of the city of Paderborn where most of its units are based.

As part of the 3rd (UK) Division, soldiers serving with the brigade wear the insignia of a white mailed fist with a blue background - a symbol of the hard punch that this armoured formation gives the enemy.

One of the first units to move to the Plain will be 5 RIFLES who will arrive in 2016 to replace 4 RIFLES who move to Aldershot later this year In another phase of the reorganisation, 3rd (UK) Division welcomed The Royal Dragoon Guards to “The Iron Fist” as part 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade. The Catterick-based cavalry regiment are the latest unit to join 3rd Division under the Army 2020.