84 Medical Supply Squadron is a squadron of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps. It is currently attached to 9 Regiment RLC and provides medical supply to the British Armed Forces when deployed on operations around the world. To this day 84 Medical Supply Squadron is still one of the most operationally deployed squadrons in the British Army and is the only one providing medical supply year-round to all three services in theatre.
A new department was created under the name of 84 Field Medical Equipment Depot in 1984 due to difficulties encountered during the Falklands War by the Defence Medical Equipment Depot. The new depot came under the Royal Army Medical Corps control and was located on shelves in the “Green Zone” behind “Mobs & Kits” at DMED in Ludgershall. There the stores and equipment were periodically turned over by RAMC Medical Storeman who worked at DMED as 84 FMED’s manning was names on paper only.
Deployments
Even though this new depot had been created it was very rarely deployed, the only one of note was the deployment on Operation Granby, Kuwait in 1991. The depot would rarely see service until 1999 with the conflict in Kosovo and subsequent peace keeping Operations. This brought about another change. The equipment that was held for 84 FMED was by now obsolete or incompatible with more modern equipment held by the units it would be supplying. A complete review of its holding was made and items and quantities held were changed. This was not the same as 84 FMED so a name change was issued; it was now to be referred to as 84 Medical Supply Squadron.
84 Medical Supply Squadron
84 MSS was still an RAMC asset but the Medical Supply Tech Trade had been disbanded and replaced by an Additional Qualification Course for Combat Medical Technicians so 84 now found itself manned by Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and CMTs with Laboratory Technicians for Blood Products. The new 84 MSS fully ran the depot in Kosovo for about a year before handing control over to the resident Med Group of each tour. Things returned to relative quiet again with only small participation in operations and exercises like Saif Sareea 2, Oman in 2001.
The second was for 84 MSS to be disbanded as an RAMC unit and be taken under Royal Logistic Corps command. Not all RAMC personnel have left the squadron there are still two captains, two warrant officers and one sergeant.
Deployments
The third being the deployment on Operation Herrick 4, Afghanistan in 2006 which pushed the squadron into being the only squadron in the British Armed Forces to be simultaneously and permanently deployed to two theatres of operations. Since then the squadron has been deployed personnel in almost every theatre of operations including Operation Gritrock, the ebola crisis response in Sierra Leone in 2015.
