FOLLOWING last week's White Paper announcement about the new structure and benefits for what used to be known as the Territorial Army, 1 Rifles (based at Chepstow's Beachley barracks) and 6 Rifles (based throughout the southwest) are to be officially paired.

Better benefits, more security, and more support for reservists and their employers are key elements of the Reserves White Paper, unveiled last week by the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond.

The new relationship set out in the White Paper 'Reserves in the Future Force 2020' marks a significant step forward for a new, fully integrated Reserve Force that is well trained, well equipped and well-funded.

The raft of measures revealed will help grow the UK's Reserves to an estimated 35,000 across all three services and will give crucial support and incentives to reservists, their families and employers.

The Territorial Army will change its name to the Army Reserve to better reflect its enhanced role and its full integration into the whole force.

£80 million will be invested in the Army Reserve estate to accommodate the larger numbers, with £110 million invested across the tri-service Reserve estate.

For Reservists some of the measures unveiled today include, paid annual leave when training as well as when on operation, more generous Armed Forces pension entitlements when training and on operations under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (to be introduced in April 2015) and access to key defence health services when training and on operations.

Employers will also benefit from the announcement. Small and medium businesses will be awarded £500 per month per reservist on top of the allowances that are already available when their reservists employees are mobilised.

Alongside the wide reaching changes set out in the White Paper, the Army has separately published details of the future structures and basing for the Army Reserve.

These changes will bring the Army Reserve into the 21st century, streamlining it and aligning it more closely with its regular counterpart as part of an integrated whole force.

Locally, 1 Rifles will be officially paired with the reserve battalion, 6 Rifles.

"These two battalions have often worked in conjunction with each other but now they are officially paired and will have much stronger links," said Ronnie Jones, press officer for the MoD.

Beachley barracks will remain the base for 1 Rifles and much of 6 Rifles will remain based throughout Devon and Cornwall, however the Gloucester barracks will become more important as the battalion begin to work more closely with Chepstow-based 1 Rifles.