Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, with the Royal Marines in Scandinavia, the Royal Air Force (RAF) in West Germany and over the North Sea, the Royal Navy in the Norwegian Sea and North Atlantic, and the British Army in Germany. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact occurring between 1989 and 1991, a Soviet invasion of Western Europe no longer seemed likely. While the restructuring was criticised by several British politicians, it was an exercise mirrored by governments in almost every major Western military power: the so-called peace dividend. Total manpower was cut by approximately 18 per cent to around 255,000 (120,000 army; 60,000 navy; 75,000 air force). Other casualties of the restructuring were the UK's nuclear civil defence organisations, the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation, and its field force, the Royal Observer Corps (a part-time volunteer branch of the RAF), both disbanded between September 1991 and December 1995. British Army Halving the troop strength in Germany by replacing the British Army of the Rhine with British Forces Germany in 1994. Several British Army regiments amalgamated: (Those new units which were formed are in bold, not all units are shown, only those which changed, for full list see: List of British Regular Army regiments (1994)) Brigade of Gurkhas: Regimental Headquarters, The Gurkha Engineers disbanded The Royal Gurkha Rifles formed by amalgamation of: 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles), 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles, 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles, and 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, 3 Battalion establishment The Queen's Own Gurkha Transport Regiment formed by grouping of former independent Gurkha transport squadrons Royal Corps of Signals 1st Armoured Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment disbanded and concurrently reformed from 4th Signal Regiment as Lower Saxony Signal Regiment, then re-titled as 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment 4th Armoured Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment disbanded to help reform 1st Signal Regiment 8th Signal Regiment absorbed into 11th (Royal School of Signals) Signal Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals 13th (Radio) Signal Regiment reduced to cadre and later disbanded 15th Signal Regiment and Headquarters Northern Ireland formed to administer those signal squadrons