The British army's 38-year-role in Northern Ireland formally ends today.
The closure of "Operation Banner" will see the ending of army support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland at midnight.
Some 300,000 British troops have served in Northern Ireland since 1969, when they were called in amid growing sectarian violence.
Some 763 were killed, and the last soldier to die was Stephen Restorick, who was shot by a sniper in south Armagh in February 1997.
Children run by an armed British soldier on Grosvenor Road, Belfast on May 6th, 1981, the day of the removal of the body of hunger striker Bobby Sands to the church prior to his funeral. Photograph: Pat Langan/The Irish Times
British soldiers will remain stationed in Northern Ireland in preparation for possible deployment anywhere in the world.
However their numbers will not exceed 5,000, a level described by the army as a "normal peacetime garrison", and roughly the same number present when the large-scale street conflict erupted in 1969.
"Normalisation" or demilitarisation plans are continuing, and only about 10 army bases will be retained out of more than 100.
Soldiers based in Northern Ireland will most likely serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they could be called by the civil powers to help locally as they have been with the flooding in England. Because of the continuing low level threat from dissident republicans, army bomb disposal teams will maintain a presence.
PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde said the police would have no problems coping without military support. "We don't need them any more," he said. "For many months now we have not relied at all on our military colleagues for support to deliver normal policing.
"This place is very different now. It has never been a war, but what we have now is a situation where normal policing can continue."
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern today welcomed the completion of the security normalisation process.
"This is a further significant step towards the realisation of a normal, peaceful, and prosperous society in Northern Ireland," Mr Ahern said. "Against this background and as we look forward to the devolution of justice and security next year, continued paramilitary activity must be brought quickly to a final end and full decommissioning delivered."
PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde
Sinn Féin and the DUP have differed sharply on the legacy of "Operation Banner," however.
Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson, a former UDR member, said those who had served in Northern Ireland could be proud of their achievements. "[They] can be proud of their role in defeating terrorism and in restoring normality to our streets," he said.
However, Sinn Féin junior minister Gerry Kelly, a former IRA member, claimed British soldiers were an "oppressive presence" and had used intelligence and covert operations against the Catholic community.
Overall some 300,000 British military personnel have been in Northern Ireland since 1969, stationed at more than 100 army bases. At the height of the Troubles there were 15 battalions in Belfast alone.
At its peak in 1972, the combined British armed forces presence in Northern Ireland was some 27,000, although this steadily decreased until 1992 and the early years of the peace process, when 18,200 soldiers were still deployed.