14 Intelligence Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
14 Intelligence Company was a British Army special forces unit, part of the Intelligence Corps, operating in Northern Ireland from the 1970s onwards. It specialised in undercover surveillance against suspected members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and various Loyalist terrorist groups.
Uniquely among British special forces units, it recruited women as well as men. The title 14th Intelligence Company has never formally existed, but has entered public awareness through the activities of various books written by former operators. The other nickname in widespread use was the Det - see below.
For security reasons, it has been re-titled over the years, including:
- Mobile Reconnaissance Force (MRF)
- 14 Intelligence and Security Company
- Army Support Unit (ASU)
- Joint Communications Unit (Northern Ireland) (JCU-NI).
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[edit] The "Det"
The Unit was made up of 4 detachments hence the nickname 'The Det'. These were East Det, based in Palace Barracks, North Det in Ballykelly, and South Det based in Fermanagh. The Main Det was based in RAF Aldergrove. The unit was made up of men and women drawn from all the services, who participated in 'special duties' for periods of 9 to 18 months and beyond, along with "hats" (soldiers such as clerks, signallers, or cooks who performed more mundane duties).
In addition, members of special forces units were attached to the unit; indeed this was seen as a critical part of the role. This was in addition to other special forces tasks.
Many of the bravest members of the unit were ladies drawn from the QARANC and WRAC who were able to use their 'professional' skills such as nursing, to access areas not possible to male operators without attracting attention. Specialist skills were taught to members by external units such as JSOP at RAF Cosford, Army School of Ammunition at Kineton and the School of Signals at Blandford.
After a tour with 14 Int Coy it was not unheard of for an operator to by transferred to another Unit or Corps than the one he or she originated from.
The unit has now been absorbed into the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, and now has a global surveillance and counter-terrorist role.
The det's activities have been described in books by former operators James Rennie and Sarah Ford.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- James Rennie, The Operators: On the Streets with Britain's Most Secret Service (ISBN 1-84415-099-2)
- Sarah Ford, One Up: A Woman in Action with the SAS (ISBN 0-00-638837-X) (despite the misleading title)
