The 1st Royal Tank Regiment is based at RAF Honington in Suffolk with A Squadron being posted to Warminster. The Honington based soldiers form an integral element of the Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Regiment. Equipped with Fuchs Reconnaissance Vehicles and specialist vehicles mounted NBC detection equipment, they are trained and prepared to move at short notice to any potential trouble spot. Currently they have soldiers permanently located in Kuwait. Soldiers from A Squadron are equipped with Challenger 2 and form part of the Combined Arms Training Centre.
1 RTR recruits from Scotland and the North West of England, giving the regiment a very distinct character, unlike any other in the Royal Armoured Corps. With the majority of their soldiers coming from Liverpool and Glasgow, football is a passion!
To reflect their Scottish links they have a Pipes and Drums. The Pipes and Drums are primarily tank soldiers who decide that they would like to try their hand at something different. This summer they were seen performing at the Edinburgh Festival and Military Tattoo.
They have sent soldiers to Canada, Cyprus, the USA and Thailand as well as all the British Army operational zones.
On the sporting front the regiment is currently the Army cycling champions, and has in recent years won the Royal Armoured Corps Rugby Cup two years running.
Winter sports are equally popular and two soldiers from 1 RTR are currently training with the British Olympic Team for the two-man bob event.
Their cross-country ski team has also had a very successful season and the team finished in the Army top ten.