Thiepval Barracks Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn , County Antrim , is the headquarters of the British Army in Northern Ireland and its 38th ( Irish ) Brigade . In August 2008 , 19th Light Brigade moved into Thiepval Barracks from Catterick Garrison , North Yorkshire . The barracks is named after the village of Thiepval in Northern France , an important site in the Battle of the Somme ( 1916 ) and site of the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme . The Army ' s Belfast Regional Command corresponds to the Police Service of Northern Ireland ' s Belfast Region . Thiepval is one of the 14 military bases remaining in Northern Ireland after the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement . Personnel levels dropped to 5 , 000 from around 12 , 000 ( this from a height of nearly 30 , 000 during the height of The Troubles ) . Thiepval Barracks is also home to BFBS radio in Northern Ireland with the community station Lisburn FM transmitting across the city of Lisburn on 100 . 6FM The Cold War . Between 1954 and 1992 Lisburn contained the operational headquarters of No 31 Belfast Group Royal Observer Corps who operated from a protected nuclear bunker on Knox Road within Thiepval Barracks . Converted from a 1940s anti - aircraft operations room ( AAOR ) the bunker would support over one hundred ROC volunteers and a ten man United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation warning team responsible for the famous four - minute warning in the event of a nuclear strike on the UK . The ROC would also detect radioactive fallout from the nuclear bursts and warn the public of approaching fallout . The two organisations were stood down in 1992 at the end of the Cold War . In 2007 a commemorative plaque was mounted on the wall of the nuclear bunker which still stands , marking the volunteer service of ROC volunteers all over the Province . 39 Infantry Brigade . The barracks had previously been home to 39 Infantry Brigade and Ulster Defence Regiment Headquarters . The Brigade , as 39 Airportable Brigade , was involved in The Troubles in Northern Ireland , eventually taking on responsibility , under HQ Northern Ireland , for an area including Belfast and the eastern side of the province , but excluding the South Armagh border region . From September 1970 , it was commanded by ( then ) Brigadier Frank Kitson . The Brigade took on some units from 3 Brigade when it was disbanded on 1 September 2004 . The HQ 8 Infantry Brigade based in Shackleton Barracks , Ballykelly , County Londonderry was disbanded and handed over responsibility to HQ 39 Infantry Brigade , Lisburn , on 1 September 2006 . On 1 August 2007 , the Brigade was amalgamated with 107 ( Ulster ) Brigade when the new non - deployable brigade HQ , the 38 ( Irish ) Brigade , was formed in the province . Bombing . On 7 October 1996 the Provisional Irish Republican Army penetrated the heavily fortified base to detonate two car bombs . The first detonated at 15 : 35 GMT followed by the second around ten minutes later close to the base ' s medical facilities where victims were gathering . Warrant Officer James Bradwell ( 43 ) was killed and 21 soldiers and 10 civilians were injured . This bombing was the first major attack on a military base since the ending of the IRA ' s ceasefire on February 9 , 1996 when it exploded a device in London ' s Docklands .