Ulster Defence Regiment - Operational Role - Ulsterisation

Ulsterisation

Ulsterisation is a term applied to the British Government's policy to reduce regular Army troop numbers in Northern Ireland and bring local forces into the front line. This was a result of international opinion about British soldiers being used in what many viewed as a colonial occupation. It was also called normalisation, and police primacy.

One of the major changes in policy was the return of internal security control to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, which had effectively been under the command of the Army since the Scarman and Hunt reports—which called for restructuring the severely undermanned force in 1969. A report commissioned in 1976 recommended:

• An increase in the establishment of the RUC and RUC Reserve
• Creation of RUC "mobile support units"
• An increase in the conrate establishment of the UDR so it could take over from the regular Army
• A 24-hour military presence by the UDR

Despite the rapid induction of 300 extra recruits to the UDR and the raising of "Operations Platoons", the scheme was hampered by the shortfall of conrate officers in the UDR who could take on the role of operations officers. It also placed a heavier demand upon senior NCOs trained as watchkeepers in the operations rooms, or "comcens" (an abbreviation for communications centres) at UDR bases.

The term "Ulsterisation" was coined by the media. The then Assistant Chief Constable of the RUC, Jack Hermon, summed it up when he said, "Ulstermen need to learn to live together and be policed by Ulstermen. If they have to kill, let them kill each other, not English soldiers."