The Queen will visit the MOD’s Defence Business Services facility at Innsworth House and the Headquarters of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps today.
At Innsworth House, vcialis 40mg Her Majesty will visit the MOD Medal Office which assesses, ampoule engraves and issues awards of all UK Military and selected Civilian medals to Serving Personnel, prescription veterans and their Next of Kin. Medals are issued in recognition of current Armed Forces Service and for past service dating back to the start of the Second World War. The office awards the Elizabeth Cross to the next of kin of Armed Forces personnel who died on operations or are killed by acts of terrorism. Awards for The Queen’s New Year and Birthday Honours Lists and the twice yearly Operational Honours lists are also engraved at the facility in Gloucester before despatch to the Central Chancery for Investitures.
Also part of the Defence Business Services facility is the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre. The centre provides a focal point for casualty administration, the notifying of next of kin and requests for overseas compassionate travel for members of the British Armed Forces. It also assists bereaved families deal with the administrative challenges following a death, such as wills, and liaises with the National Memorial Arboretum. The Queen will also call on the Commemorations team who manage the delicate process of caring for, identifying and finally laying to rest the human remains of fallen heroes from previous campaigns from as far back as WW1. If at all possible the team will also trace the surviving members of the deceased and invite them to attend a dignified, military funeral.
From here The Queen will move to the HQ of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, or ARRC as it is known, is a NATO Headquarters which can be used by NATO, the EU, a coalition or nationally to coordinate military operations. The UK is the framework nation for the ARRC, providing 60% of the personnel and it has 450 core military and civilian staff from 19 nations. It is a highly flexible organisation, able to deploy worldwide to achieve a wide range of potential missions including: disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, peace support operations and warfighting. HQ ARRC was created in 1991.
The HQ has deployed on operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan and is currently on standby as a NATO Joint Task Force HQ. In order to be ready for operations, HQ ARRC completes a series of training exercises each year. HQ ARRC moved from Rheindalen in Germany to Innsworth, a former RAF Station, in 2010. Staff and their families normally complete a two to three year tour of duty at the ARRC and are accommodated across central Gloucestershire in a mixture of married quarters and rented accommodation.