analysis

The announcement that The Black Watch’s home at Fort George is to stay open for the next 16 years will end a period of uncertainty for troops and their families.

Many have bought homes and put down roots in Inverness.

Staying put will avoid the upheaval of house sales and school changes.

It is known, however, that single soldiers would have preferred to move closer to a more populous centre.

There remains a chance that that may happen. The defence review leaves open a number of possibilities for army relocation.

For the meantime, there is a degree of satisfaction in military circles that a Highland regiment will remain in the Highlands.

While RM Condor’s volunteer gliding school is to close, there is no threat to 45 Commando Royal Marines, which plays a significant economic and social role in Angus.

The closure of Glencorse, home of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, in 2032 and Redford barracks in 2022, is an indication that military planners expect an even more slimmed down Royal Regiment of Scotland in the future.

We have already seen the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders reduced to company status and if recruit difficulties persist, a two-battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland is possible within a couple of decades.