Operation Rescript was the code name for the British military operation to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies between 2020 and 2022. It was described as the UK's "biggest ever homeland military operation in peacetime" by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), involving up to 23,000 personnel within a specialist task force, named the COVID Support Force (CSF). The support was given at the request of the UK government, its devolved administrations and civil authorities (including the National Health Service (NHS)) through the Military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) mechanism.
Launched in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic's first wave, the operation began with the airlifting of critical COVID-19 patients, logistical support, planning support and the formation of a helicopter task force. From April 2020, the CSF began helping plan, construct and staff several temporary critical care hospitals across the UK and also provided drivers and call handlers to reinforce ambulance services. In May 2020, the CSF helped with mass COVID-19 testing across the country to help reach a government target for 100,000 tests per day. These tests were largely carried out at mobile testing units which had been set up by the CSF in areas such as police stations, fire stations, care homes, prisons and benefit centres.
During the pandemic's second wave, from September 2020, the CSF assisted with more mass testing and, from December 2020, began assisting with the UK's vaccination rollout through providing planning support, medical staff and constructing vaccination centres — a task which was described as "unparalleled in its scale and complexity" by Brigadier Phil Prosser, Commander of Military Support to the Vaccine Delivery Programme.
Other support provided by the armed forces included the testing of the NHS' contact tracing phone application, NHS Test and Trace, the manufacturing of personal protective equipment (PPE), the creation of disinfectants, including the Virusend formula, and countering COVID-19 misinformation. It was one of two British military operations to assist with tackling the pandemic; the other being Operation Broadshare which focuses on activities overseas, including within the British Overseas Territories (BOTs).
In November 2022, Defence Minister James Heappey stated that the operation had concluded, although the exact date of its conclusion was not specified.
Background
In December 2019, a cluster of "pneumonia" cases were reported in Wuhan, China. These cases were later found to be caused by a newly identified SARS-CoV-2 virus. On 20 January 2020, the first cases of the virus outside China were confirmed in Japan, South Korea and Thailand. By 29 January, cases had continued to spread and the first two cases were confirmed in the United Kingdom. On 28 February, the virus was confirmed to have spread within the UK population and, by 4 March, there had been an upsurge in cases within the country. The pandemic grew to be considered the most serious peacetime emergency the UK has faced in a century.
On 16 March 2020, the British government mobilised 10,000 military personnel to help tackle the escalating outbreak. This military support was made available through the Military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) mechanism which allows government departments, the devolved administrations and civil authorities to request military support in times of emergency. Media outlets began speculating the extent of the military's involvement, with one report from Sky News claiming troops may be used to "help cope with the breakdown of civil society", whilst another, from The Times, claimed prisons may need to be staffed by military personnel if prison staff became ill. These reports caused some public alarm which prompted Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to publicly dismiss the stories as "fictional" and urge caution. On 19 March 2020, a further 10,000 military personnel were put on standby to form a specialist task force to help tackle the virus, named the COVID Support Force (CSF). The names of two military operations were announced as being Operation Rescript and Operation Broadshare; Rescript being focused within the United Kingdom, whilst Broadshare focused on activities overseas. When planning the operation, experience was drawn from previous homeland military operations, including Operation Olympics, which provided security for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Operation Redfold, which was a contingency to limit any disruption caused by a No-deal Brexit in 2020, and Operation Morlop, the response to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in 2018.
COVID Support Force On 19 March 2020, the Ministry of Defence announced the formation of the COVID Support Force as part of its measures to help tackle the Coronavirus outbreak. The support force comprised 20,000 military personnel tasked with supporting public services, which included 150 military personnel being trained to drive oxygen tankers to support the National Health Service (NHS). Scientists from Defence Science and Technology Laboratory also began supporting Public Health England. The COVID Support Force reported to the Standing Joint Commander (UK) Major General Tyrone Urch at Aldershot. It included 10 regional commands.
On 20 March 2020, The Telegraph reported General Sir Nick Carter had ordered the armed forces to prepare for a "six month operation". Overseas exercises, including those in Canada and Kenya, were cancelled to free up personnel for the COVID Support Force. The armed forces had previously been involved in repatriation flights of British and EU citizens in affected areas, such as China, Japan and Cuba.
In April 2020, an additional 3,000 reservist personnel joined the COVID Support Force bringing it to 23,000 personnel in total.
According to the Ministry of Defence, over half of the 6,500-strong Defence Medical Services have been involved with Operation Rescript, representing the largest contribution from any part of Defence.
Tasks Medical evacuations The British military first supported the COVID-19 response on 31 January 2020, when RAF Brize Norton and defence medics assisted with the first COVID-19 repatriation flight from Wuhan. MoD Boscombe Down was subsequently designated the preferred airfield for future COVID-19 repatriation flights.
On 15 March 2020, the Royal Air Force responded to its first MACA request to airlift a critically ill COVID-19 patient from the Isles of Scilly to Newquay Airport using a Boeing Chinook helicopter. Further medical evacuations took place in other remote areas, including in Shetland and Northern Ireland utilising a range of military aircraft equipped for the task, including Airbus A400M Atlas, Airbus Voyager and Westland Puma. Other types, such as British Aerospace 146, were converted to bolster the RAF's capacity.
Temporary hospitals
In order to alleviate pressure on local hospitals dealing with the pandemic, a number of temporary critical care hospitals were established across the country. These were built and staffed with the assistance of the COVID Support Force (CSF). In England, these temporary hospitals were named the NHS Nightingale Hospitals. The first, NHS Nightingale Hospital London, was built at the ExCeL London convention centre on 3 April 2020. It was constructed in just nine days with the assistance of 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, 256 Field Hospital and the Royal Engineers, and was staffed partly by military medics working alongside the NHS.
Other NHS Nightingale hospitals were built and staffed with the assistance of the CSF in Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter, Harrogate, Manchester and Washington, involving units from the Royal Engineers, the Brigade of Gurkhas, 4th Regiment Royal Artillery and the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, among others.
In Scotland, the CSF assisted with the planning and construction of a temporary hospital, named NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital, at the SEC Centre in Glasgow. In Wales, it helped plan and build the UK's second-largest temporary hospital, named the Dragon's Heart Hospital, within Cardiff's Principality Stadium. The British Army's 1st Battalion, The Rifles was involved with its construction and the hospital was staffed with the help of military medics. In April 2020, the CSF helped advise on a potential temporary hospital at HM Prison Maze, a disused prison in County Down, Northern Ireland.
In addition to larger-scale temporary hospitals, the CSF also helped repurpose other sites to facilitate additional patient beds, intensive care units and morgues. Headley Court, a former defence medical rehabilitation centre, which closed in 2018, was one such location. Another location, St. Mary's Hospital in the Isle of Wight, was expanded with the help of the Scots Guards. Morgues have also been established, including within disused RAF hangars, with the bodies transported via rental vans driven by military personnel.
Aviation Task Force On 23 March 2020, Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) formed a specialist task force, named the COVID Support Force Aviation Task Force (CTF ATF), to assist with the pandemic response. The ATF comprised helicopters from across the three armed services which were forward-deployed to transport patients, personnel, equipment and cargo. Additionally, Joint Helicopter Support Squadron and Tactical Supply Wing provided support through the provision of suitable helicopter landing sites and remote aircraft refueling capabilities. The headquarters for the ATF was based at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, England. The first reported ATF medical evacuation took place on 22 April 2020 and involved a Puma helicopter transporting a critically ill COVID-19 patient from the Isle of Arran to a hospital in Kilmarnock. A total of 12 helicopters were attached to the ATF during May 2020.
+ ATF Overview Area of responsibility Aircraft and locations Scotland and Northern England 3 x Westland Puma forward-deployed to Kinloss Barracks between 27 March 2020 – 12 June 2020. 2 x AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat forward-deployed to RAF Leeming on 27 March 2020. 1 x Boeing Chinook forward-deployed to RAF Leeming on 27 March 2020. Midlands and Southern England 2 x AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat forward-deployed to RNAS Yeovilton on 27 March 2020. 3 x Boeing Chinook forward-deployed to RAF Odiham on 27 March 2020. 3 x AgustaWestland AW101 at RNAS Culdrose on 1 April 2020.
Personal protective equipment
The global demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) reached unprecedented levels during the pandemic and, initially, the UK experienced a shortage of supply. The CSF and wider armed forces assisted with the provision of PPE through sourcing, delivering and manufacturing. The Royal Logistic Corps was heavily involved, working from an NHS supply hub in Northamptonshire, England. Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) helped with sourcing and quality assurance testing, including for the Cabinet Office and the Department for Health and Social Care, whilst specialist CBRN instructors from the British Army helped with fit testing, including within four Scottish hospitals.
The first reported batch of PPE was delivered by 101 Logistic Brigade to St Thomas' Hospital in London on 23 March 2020. In April 2020, 3rd Battalion, Royal Welsh helped deliver two large batches of PPE flown in from Cambodia and China. During the same month, the RAF also deployed Atlas transport aircraft to deliver delayed PPE from Turkey. In addition to hospitals, PPE was also delivered to police forces, including by units such as 4 Regiment RLC.
To help manufacture PPE, some military units utilised 3D printing. These units included the British Army's 22 Engineer Regiment, the RAF's Chinook Support Centre (CSC) and the Royal Navy's Engineer Naval Reservists at HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth. By 6 May 2020, 2,000 items of PPE had been produced by personnel at RNAS Culdrose.
Ambulance support