In May 2026, the main stream media and social media reported that the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) set up a HQ on the platform to a NATO wargame about an invasion of the Baltic States in five years time.
Some people in defence thought it was fake news; the thought of a reported ‘top secret’ exercise held in the public eye seemed ridiculous. Actually, the exercise did take place, but it was not exactly what it seemed. Using an underground station does not protect from NBC attack. It offers some protection from N, but without back up generators, water supply and secure hardened communications channels, the HQ might survive but without communications. A HQ that cannot communicate is useless. Without forced air systems, an underground station offers little protection against B and C.
The ARRC HQ has 400+ staff and they simply would not fit on the platform at Charing Cross. Also the computer monitors were facing the track, so those passing on the trains could photograph what was on the screens.
Practising deploying to an underground carpark out of the public eye would have given the same training benefit to the HQ.
So what was the purpose of the exercise? It seems likely it was to be seen. It is part of an attempt to shift the narrative and prepare the British public for the threat of war affecting the UK homeland.
Actually, councils in the UK are considering civil resilience; issues such as climate change, floods, cyber-attack, food shortages, civil disorder etc. If the UK government mentioned civil defence, such councils would object on ideological grounds. However, everyone agrees that developing local resilience is sound apolitical policy. There is a surge in table top wargames about these topics up and down the UK.
The monitors could not be seen by passing trains as it was a disused platform with no scheduled services
ReplyDeleteThank you, I had not realised that!
DeleteI had assumed that they used the mothballed part of the station. The Jubilee line used to terminate there, but when it was extended to North Greenwich, the platforms serving the line were sealed off from the rest of Charing Cross Underground Station. The railway tracks are still in place and are used as sidings for spare trains. By ‘parking’ an empty train at a platform, there would be plenty of space for 400 people to sit and work on it and the platform.
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
Bob
thank you for the extra information
DeleteRegarding resilience planning in Councils, there is a requirement for local government bodies to plan for potential issues and carry out exercises in conjunction with 'blue light' agencies. This has been in place for some time. Virtually all UK councils will be members of a local resilience forum. Many of the potential issues are detailed in the National Risk Register which covers a variety of potential threats.
ReplyDeleteThe Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA) states local authorities in UK must exercise their plans reguarly, but does not state how often. National Resilience Standards (2020–2023 updates require one multi agency exercise per year. Usually one happens is one multi agency exercise per year (Local authority emergency planning/ Police Gold/Silver commands/
ReplyDeleteFire & Rescue/ Ambulance service/ NHS/ Environment Agency/ utilities/ voluntary sector. There is often a table top/ command post type exercise focussed on command decisions each year. Of course the police, fire service etc. run their own small scale training events. High risk industrial sites have a full scale exercise every three years, plus a table top exercise each year. Of course, this all depends on budget, resources and the focus of the political leaders.
I was rather amused quite some years ago when working in a big Government building. The staff arrived one winter morning to find no electricity. The manager responsible in such situations, I forget his fancy title, really struggled because in the dark he was struggling to locate the filing cabinet with the document that carried the instructions what to do in such circumstances, let alone find and read that document! This was before we all got torches on our mobile phones. Resilience was perhaps not the right word for that morning!
ReplyDeleteSteve