Rapid reaction force

A rapid reaction force / rapid response force (RRF), quick reaction force / quick response force (QRF), immediate reaction force (IRF), rapid deployment force (RDF), or quick maneuver force (QMF) is a military unit capable of responding to emergencies in a very short time frame.

Definition

File:QRF (quick reaction force) staging area at Camp Buehring, Kuwait circa 2005.jpg

A United States Army quick reaction force staging area at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, in 2005

A quick reaction force (QRF) is an armed military unit capable of rapidly responding to developing situations. They are equipped to respond to any type of emergency within a short time frame, sometimes only a few minutes, based on unit standard operating procedures (SOPs). Some can deploy outside their borders and without the need for a large organized support force. Cavalry units are frequently postured as QRFs, with a main mission of security and reconnaissance. A quick reaction force belongs directly to the commander of the unit it is created from and is typically held in the reserve. QRF units can be assigned to an area of operations (AO) or can be associated with a specific operation, for example Neptune Spear, when reserve units were used to support the main force following the crash of a helicopter.

List

Active

Argentina: Argentine Rapid Deployment Force

Australia: 7th Brigade (Australia)

China

• People's Armed Police 1st Mobile Corps
• People's Armed Police 2nd Mobile Corps
• People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps
• People's Liberation Army Navy Marine Corps

Colombia: Rapid Deployment Force

Egypt: Egyptian Rapid Deployment Forces

Finland: Finnish Rapid Deployment Force

/ Germany/Netherlands: Rapid Forces Division

India: Rapid Action Force

Indonesia: Indonesian Air Force Quick Reaction Forces Command

/ Italy/NATO: NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Italy

Japan

• Central Readiness Regiment
• Riot Police Unit

Malaysia: 10th Parachute Brigade

Norway: Norwegian Telemark Battalion

Philippines

• 710th Special Operations Wing
• 1st Brigade Combat Team

Portugal: Rapid Reaction Brigade

/ Russia/Soviet Union

• Russian Airborne Forces
• Separate Operational Purpose Division

Singapore: Army Deployment Force

South Korea

• 2nd Quick Response Division
• ROKMC Quick Maneuver Force

Sri Lanka: Air Mobile Brigade

Thailand

• 31st Infantry Regiment
• 3rd Infantry Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division
• 1st Infantry Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division
• 1st Infantry Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division
• 2nd Infantry Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division

United Kingdom

• 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team

United States

• Military
  • Joint Special Operations Command
    • 24th Special Tactics Squadron
    • Delta Force
    • Intelligence Support Activity
    • Regimental Reconnaissance Company
    • SEAL Team Six
  • United States Air Force
    • 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group
    • 621st Contingency Response Wing
    • Immediate Response Force
    • Special Tactics Squadrons
  • United States Army
    • Immediate Response Force
    • 75th Ranger Regiment
    • XVIII Airborne Corps
      • 10th Mountain Division
      • 82nd Airborne Division
      • 101st Airborne Division
  • United States Coast Guard
    • Deployable Specialized Forces
  • United States Marine Corps
    • Marine Expeditionary Unit
      • Maritime Special Purpose Force
  • United States Navy
    • Expeditionary Fast Transport
    • Fleet Logistics Support squadrons

Multinational

European Union

• The European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR) serves as a unified intervention force of European militarized police.
• EU Battlegroup

NATO

• The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) is a capable of rapidly deploying a NATO headquarters for operations and crisis response.
• The NATO Response Force (NRF) is distinct from ARRC as it comprises land, sea, air, and special forces units.

Defunct

• The European Rapid Operational Force (EUROFOR) was a European rapid reaction force under the European Union and Western European Union, established in 1995 and composed of military units from Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain. EUROFOR was tasked with performing duties outlined in the Petersberg Tasks. EUROFOR deployed to Kosovo from 2000 to 2001, and North Macedonia as part of EUFOR Concordia in 2003. After being converted into an EU Battlegroup, EUROFOR was dissolved in 2012.
• Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Africa
• Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command

Proposed

• The European Rapid Reaction Force (ERRF) was the intended result of the Helsinki Headline Goal. Though many media reports suggested the ERRF would be a European Union army, the Helsinki Headline Goal was little more than headquarters arrangements and a list of theoretically available national forces for a rapid reaction force.
• The Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF) was a British Armed Forces capability concept created in 1999. The force was composed of units from all three branches of the British military, and was able to rapidly deploy anywhere in the world at short notice. However, the War in Afghanistan and 2003 invasion of Iraq siphoned British personnel and equipment, leaving the JRRF with insufficient forces. The JRRF was succeeded by the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force in 2010 and the Joint Expeditionary Force in 2014.
• The concept of a United Nations rapid reaction force was proposed in the mid-1990s by several commentators and officials, including Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. The UN rapid reaction force would consist of personnel stationed in their home countries, but they would have the same training, equipment, and procedures, and would conduct joint exercises. The force would remain at high readiness at all times so as to quickly deploy them where necessary.
• The Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF) was a former United States Department of Defense joint task force. It was formed in 1979 as the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF), envisioned as a mobile force that could quickly deploy U.S. forces to any location outside the usual American deployment areas of Western Europe and East Asia, soon coming to focus on the Middle East. It was inactivated in 1983 and reorganized as the United States Central Command.

See also

• Expeditionary warfare
• Power projection