| The Royal Air Force Regiment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1 February 1942 – present |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Type | |
| Role | |
| Size | 1,850[2] regulars (2021), 570 reserves (2016) |
| Part of | No. 2 Group,Air Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Depot:RAF Honington |
| Nicknames | "The Rock Apes"; "Rocks" |
| Mottos | Per Ardua (Latin for "Through Adversity")[3] (Individual squadrons also have their own motto.) |
| March | Quick:Holyrood Slow:Centurion |
| Commanders | |
| Commandant-General | Air Vice-MarshalMichael Smeath[4] |
| Honorary Air Commodore | Air Chief MarshalSir Stephen Dalton |
| Air Commodore-in-Chief | King Charles III |
| Insignia | |
| Tactical Recognition Flash |  |
| Shoulder Flash |  |
 |
| Royal Air Force of theBritish Armed Forces |
|---|
| Components |
|
| History and future |
| Aircraft |
| Personnel |
| Organisation |
| Auxiliary services |
TheRoyal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of theRoyal Air Force and functions as a specialistcorps. Founded byRoyal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated to the delivery ofair power.
RAF Regiment 'Gunners' are personnel trained in various disciplines such as infantry tactics, force protection, field craft, sniper, support to special forces operations,CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) defence, equipped with advanced vehicles and detection measures. RAF Regiment instructors are responsible for training all Royal Air Force personnel in basic force protection such as first aid, weapon handling and CBRN skills.
The regiment and its members are known within the RAF as "The Regiment", "Rock Apes" or "Rocks".
The genesis of the RAF Regiment was the creation ofNo. 1 Armoured Car Company RAF, formed in Egypt in 1921 for operations inIraq,[5] followed shortly afterwards byNo. 2 Armoured Car Company RAF andNo. 3 Armoured Car Company RAF. These were equipped withRolls-Royce armoured cars and carried out policing operations throughout theMiddle East in the 1920s.[6]
In 1941, during theSecond World War, German airborne forces invaded Crete, then held by Greek, British and Commonwealth forces. The German invasion succeeded in major part because of the failure of the Allied land forces to recognise the strategic importance of the airfields, and hence to defend them adequately. In consequence, the RAF base at Maleme was taken largely intact by German paratroop and glider forces, albeit with heavy casualties. The Germans were then reinforced by air behind allied lines. This led eventually to the loss of the whole island and substantial Allied losses in what became known as theBattle of Crete.[7]
Disappointed with the failure of the British Army to recognise the importance of airfields in modern warfare, Prime Minister Churchill made the RAF responsible for the defence of its own bases and the RAF Regiment was formed on 1 February 1942, with its first headquarters established atRAF Belton Park,Grantham,Lincolnshire.[8] From the start it had 66,000 personnel drawn from the former Defence Squadrons Nos. 701–850.[9][10] The new regiment was made up of field squadrons equipped withMorris Light Reconnaissance Cars,Humber Light Reconnaissance Cars andOtter Light Reconnaissance Cars. The light anti-aircraft squadrons were originally armed withHispano 20 mm cannon and then theBofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun. Its role was to seize, secure and defend airfields to enable air operations to take place. Severalparachute squadrons were formed to assist in the capture of airfields, a capability retained by No. II Squadron.[11] It mounted theKing's Guard atBuckingham Palace for the first time on 1 April 1943.[12] During the War the RAF Regiment grew to a force of over 80,000 men.[13]
In late June 1944, with theBritish Armyfighting in Normandy where it was sustaining heavy losses and at the same time suffering from a severe shortage of manpower, it was decided to transfer 25,000officers andmen of the RAF Regiment to the army, mostly to the infantry and theFoot Guards, to be retrained as Infantry to a level capable to conduct Army operations.[14]
The Second World War campaign in north-eastern India and northern Burma was fought in jungle and mountains with few or non-existent roads and which facilitated the infiltration of enemy patrols behind front lines. This was overcome by holding defensive "boxes" mainly or entirely supplied by air. The defence of forward airfields close to the main army concentrations was vital to this tactic. A training school and depot for the RAF Regiment was established atSecunderabad in October 1942, to retrain former ground defence airmen. It had an assault course considered tougher than anything the army had in India. Six field squadrons and seventy AA flights were initially formed, containing 160 officers and 4,000 other ranks.[15] Until mid-1944, the AA flights were equipped only with light machine guns, then with Hispano 20 mm cannon for the rest of the war. Regiment units defended airfields and forward mobile radar units inArakan in theArakan Campaign in late 1942 and early 1943.[16]
During theBattle of Imphal, all supplies and reinforcements had to be flown in between 29 March and 22 June 1944 with RAF Regiment units providing vital airfield defence.[17] Following the failure of the JapaneseOperation U-Go, it was decided to pursue the shattered remnants of the Japanese 15th Army into Burma during themonsoon, in average rainfall of 10 in (254 mm) per day and rifle flights were sometimes attached to advancing Indian Army and British East African units, to gain experience in the jungle.[18] Units of 1307 Wing were flown into the newly captured and tactically vitalMeiktila airfield on 1 March 1945. Only a roughly 1,076 sq yd (900 m2) box, shared with the army and some United States anti-aircraft artillery, could be held at night and the airfield had to be cleared of enemy each morning before flying could start. As one of the RAF Regiment's proudest battle honours, this three-week battle destroyed the Japanese hold on northern Burma.[19]
The RAF Regiment fought as field, armoured car and light anti-aircraft (LAA) squadrons and flights in North Africa, the Middle East, Italy, the Balkans and North Western Europe, as well as 68 LAA squadrons defending the UK against V1 attacks as part ofOperation Diver, alongside the Royal Artillery's HAA and LAA batteries. Amongst other things, RAF Regiment units were the first British forces to reach Paris, amongst the first to enter Brussels, and Squadron Leader Mark Hobden and his force arrestedHitler's successor asFührer, Grand AdmiralKarl Doenitz, at his HQ inFlensburg.[20]
On 26 November 1944, aMe 262A-2a Sturmvogel of III/KG51 based at Hopsten/Rheine near Osnabruck was the first confirmed ground-to-air kill of a jet combat aircraft. The 262 was shot down by a40/L60 40mm Bofors gun of B.11 Detachment of 2875 Squadron RAF Regiment, at the RAF forward airfield of Helmond, near Eindhoven. Others were lost to ground fire on 17 and 18 December, when the same airfield was attacked at intervals by a total of eighteen Me 262s. The guns of Nos. 2873 and 2875 squadrons RAF Regiment damaged several, causing at least two of them to crash within a few miles of the airfield. In February 1945, Sergeant Pollards's B.6 gun detachment of 2809 Squadron RAF Regiment shot down another Me 262 over the airfield of Volkel. The final appearance of Me 262s over Volkel was in 1945, when yet another fell to 2809's guns.[21]
On 5 December 1944, twelve RAF Regiment squadrons deployed onto various airfields in southern Greece. They became engaged in fighting with Greek Communist Forces (ELAS) which wished to depose the Greek government at that time.[22] No. 2848 Field Squadron was the first RAF unit to arrive inWest Berlin in 1945 to secureLuftwaffe Flugplatz Gatow.[23]
King George VI becameAir Commodore-in-Chief of the regiment in 1947. He later decided to present hisking's colour in 1952, on the 10th anniversary of the RAF Regiment's founding. The king, however, died around this time andQueen Elizabeth II instead presented theQueen's Colour a year later.[24]
Theunilateral declaration of independence byRhodesia in November 1965 necessitated support toZambia, which desperately needed air defence. In a rapid response,Javelin fighters were deployed and an RAF Regiment squadron was also deployed from the United Kingdom to provide ground defence. The agility of the Regiment was demonstrated in its ability to embark 51 Squadron RAF Regiment in six hours from the call to deploy.[25] At the eastern end of the Empire, flights from RAF Regiment squadrons based in Singapore deployed to Hong Kong in 1968 to help maintain security and confidence. The RAF Regiment continued to be involved in Hong Kong into the mid-1970s providing protection at bothRAF Kai Tak and at the radar station atTai Mo Shan.[26]
In 1974, theRapier surface-to-air missile system entered service with the RAF Regiment, and equipped four squadrons protecting four RAF airfields in Germany. Detachments from the German Rapier Squadrons, particularly fromRAF Gutersloh, deployed to San Carlos beach-head during theFalklands conflict to provide anti-aircraft cover.[27]
Light armoured squadrons, equipped withFV101 Scorpion andFV107 Scimitar light tracked vehicles, continued to be operated into the 1980s.[28] Also from the 1980s, units such as 19 Squadron were equipped with Rapier and tasked with defending USAF airbases such asRAF Upper Heyford.[29]
Four RAF Regiment personnel were killed by the IRA, all in 1988 and 1989 - one killed by hostile fire in Northern Ireland, the rest by snipers or car bombs in Europe.[30]
In July 2004, it was announced that the role of providing ground-based air defence was to be transferred to the British Army'sRoyal Artillery and the four Royal Air Force Regiment air defence squadrons were to be disbanded.[31]
The RAF Regiment saw action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Leaving aside those injured, seriously or otherwise, five RAF Regiment gunners were killed in Iraq (one in a firefight, three, including a member of the RAuxAF, in a single mortar strike, and one in a road traffic incident)[32] and five were killed in Afghanistan (one due to hostile fire, four due to IEDs, including one 51 year old member of the RAuxAF, the oldest member of the British Armed Forces to die in Afghanistan[33]) with an additional man dying in an accident in Cyprus after leaving Afghanistan.[34]
In 2011, as part of theStrategic Defence and Security Review, it was announced that, from December 2011, theCBRN role undertaken by theJoint CBRN Regiment, a combined Army/RAF unit, would be transferred to the RAF Regiment (as lead service) under the new Defence CBRN Wing, formed from26 Squadron,27 Squadron and2623 (Auxiliary) Squadron. The army retained involvement through the continued use of theRoyal Yeomanry to provide trained battlefield casualty replacements.[35]
In 2016, this decision was reversed with the announcement the CBRN role would be handed back to the British Army in 2020.[36]
In November 2013, The Queen's Colour (63), 1 and 27 Squadrons had their new colours presented. However, 16, 37 and 48 squadrons were disbanded.[37]
In July 2017,Prince Harry visited RAF Honington on behalf ofThe Queen to present a newColour to the RAF Regiment. The new colour was to celebrate the 75th birthday of the formation of the Regiment in 1942.[38]
The structure in 1989 was as follows:[39]
Additionally theRoyal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment fielded the following reserve squadrons:
The RAF Regiment is the RAF’s organic defensive security force and comes under command of2 Group,Air Command. Its members are organised into seven regularsquadrons, - Nos 1, 2, 15, 27, 34, 51 and 63/King's Colour Squadron - of which six are field squadrons and 27 is the specialist CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) units under the umbrella of the defence CBRN Wing (No 20 Wing RAF Regiment -see note below), plus sixRoyal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) Regiment (RAuxAF Regt) squadrons. The Corps carries out basic security tasks relating to the [protection of] delivery ofair power. Examples of such tasks arenon-combatant evacuation operation (NEO), recovery of downed aircrew (joint personnel recovery – JPR), defence of airfields by way of aggressively patrolling and actively seeking out infiltrators in a limited area surrounding airfields and within the airfield perimeter. The key tenet of the RAF Regiments role is based around defensive security operations,[40] rather than the Army’s more traditional offensive infantry role, which is to close with and kill the enemy; notwithstanding, this does require active patrolling just outside the Airfield perimeter. In addition the RAF Regiment provides Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) to the British Army in theTactical Air Control Party (TACP) role, and provides a very small (flight size) commitment in support of theSpecial Forces Support Group as Tactical air controllers and some CBRN specialists.[41]
The field squadrons are 171 strong[42] making them larger than an infantrycompany in theBritish Army but, critically, due to the nature of their structure and establishment for defensive security operations, a key limitation is that they are only able to operate up to Company/Squadron level and so cannot bring the same 'Mass' to bear of an Line Infantry Regiment. Not all personnel on an RAF Regiment squadron are trained gunners but can be involved in specialist support services such as administrators and drivers. A typical RAF Regiment squadron has support elements from the RAF but these personnel do not always deploy on patrols and other combat operations. Formerly, all RAF Regiment personnel were men, as it was British government policy that women could not serve in close combat units.[43] However, the intention was that by the end of 2018, women would be allowed to apply for these roles, with the RAF recruitment website 'looking forward' to female applications for the RAF Regiment. A review in 2017 determined that, although the Regiment was acknowledged to be the Royal Air Force's limited version of infantry, it was more alike to theRoyal Armoured Corps in terms of risk, due to its defensive security force mission. As a result, women will be allowed into the RAF Regiment from September 2017, which because the RAF Regiment was not graded at the same threat level as basic infantry was a full year before proper infantry units.[44] In January 2020, the first female recruit to complete the 20-week training course passed out of RAF Honington.[45]
As of March 2021[update], there are approximately 1,850 regulars.[2]
In March 2021, it was announced that the regular force is expected to be reduced by 300 personnel by 2023.[2]
_(2).jpg)
In the past the nickname "Rock Ape" has been attributed to their traditional role guarding areas ofGibraltar,[47] but this is not so. The term came into use after an accident in theWestern Aden Protectorate in November 1952. Two RAF Regiment officers serving with theAden Protectorate Levies at Dhala decided to amuse themselves by going out to shoot some of thehamadryas baboons (locally referred to as "rock apes"). The officers drew rifles and split up to hunt the apes. In the semi-darkness one of the officers fired at a moving object in the distance. When he reached the target he discovered he had shot the other officer. After emergency treatmentFlight Lieutenant Percy Henry Mason survived to return to service a few months later. When asked by a board of inquiry why he had fired at his friend the officer replied that his target had "looked just like a rock ape" in the half light. The remark soon reverberated around the RAF and it was not long before the term was in general use.[48]
The principal areas from which women are excluded today - and which were the concern of this review - are those that are required deliberately to close with and kill the enemy face-to-face,
| Formations and units |
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branches and components | |||||||
| Reserve forces | |||||||
| Equipment | |||||||
| Personnel | |||||||
| Appointments | |||||||
| Symbols and uniform | |||||||
| Associated civil organisations | |||||||
| Active squadrons |
|  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inactive |
| ||||||
