| RAF Combat Readiness Force | |
|---|---|
| Active | November 2022–present |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Role | Force Protection |
| Part of | RAF Global Enablement |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Group Captain Jules Weekes |
The Combat Readiness Force is the ground fighting force of the Royal Air Force. It provides Force Protection Wings and RAF Regiment field squadrons to defend the RAF. It works closely with the US Air Force Security Forces, its American counterpart. [1]
The Combat Readiness Force was formed in November 2022, replacing the disbanded Force Protection Force. The Combat Readiness Force is a part of RAF Global Enablement, under the command of No 2 Group. [2]
Commander, Group Captain Jules Weekes, since Nov 2022 [3]
The wing is responsible for the training and deployment of C-UAS capabilities for defence. It also provides the RAF's Ceremonial output through the King's Colour Squadron.
Wing Headquarters, at RAF Leeming
The wing is responsible for the command and control of its assigned force protection units and capabilities on operations, and preparing its units for deployments and tasks.
Wing Headquarters, at RAF Marham
The wing is responsible for the command and control of its assigned force protection units and capabilities on operations, and preparing its units for deployments and tasks.
Wing Headquarters, at RAF Lossiemouth
The wing is responsible for the command and control of a highly experienced cadre of Tactical Air Traffic Controllers within Tac ATC, and the deployment of No. II Squadron, the only parachute trained squadron of the RAF Regiment.
Wing Headquarters, at RAF Coningsby
The wing is responsible for the command and control of its assigned force protection units and capabilities on operations, and preparing its units for deployments and tasks.
Wing Headquarters, at RAF Honington
RAF Regiment Training Wing is a training establishment, delivering training courses, including specialist courses, to the RAF Regiment; from initial training for Gunners and Officers, to further training for Non-Commissioned Officers.
Headquarters, at RAF Honington
Regimental Training Squadron (Basics) is responsible for the delivery of basic training to RAF Regiment recruits. [6]
Regimental Training Squadron (Advanced) is responsible for delivering the Junior Regiment Officers' Course and further training courses for Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers respectively. RTS (A) also delivers Pre-Parachute Selection, for No. II Squadron, and sniper, signals, and other specialist training. [7]
The RRRSF conducts the selection courses for the RAF Regiment and is responsible for recruitment at public events, including career shows and bespoke visits. [8] [9]
The RAF Force Protection Centre "leads on doctrine, concepts and manages Force Protection (FP) experimentation." It provides "niche advice, expertise and training to the RAF and co-ordinates Air FP Collective Training."
Headquarters, at RAF Honington [10]
The RAF Protection Training Squadron delivers specialist training courses including "Armoured Vehicles, Military Aviation Protection Officers, Counter Intelligence and Remote Piloted Aerial Systems."
The Collective Training Squadron is responsible for "developing and training command and control to both the Combat and Readiness Force, and the Air Security Force."
Development Squadron is home to the Air Counter Threats teams and the Air Counter Chemical, Biological and Radiological Nuclear team. It is responsible for "concept development, projects, and Force Protection experimentation (FPX)."
Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby, is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located 13.7 kilometres (8.5 mi) south-west of Horncastle, and 15.8 kilometres (9.8 mi) north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and home to three front-line Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 units, No. 3 Squadron, No. 11 Squadron and No. 12 Squadron. In support of front-line units, No. 29 Squadron is the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit and No. 41 Squadron is the Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron. Coningsby is also the home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) which operates a variety of historic RAF aircraft.
A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation.
The Royal Air Force Regiment is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out basic security tasks relating to the [protection of] delivery of air power. Examples of such tasks are non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO), recovery of downed aircrew, defence of airfields by way of aggressively patrolling and actively seeking out infiltrators in a large area surrounding airfields. The key tenet of the RAF Regiments role is based around defensive security operations, 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 the Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) role, and provides a very small commitment to the Special Forces Support Group as Tactical air controllers and some CBRN specialists.
Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located 6 mi (9.7 km) south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. It was used as a bomber station during the Second World War and through the Cold War, hosting Handley Page Victors and Hawker Siddeley (Blackburn) Buccaneers. RAF Honington has been the RAF Regiment depot since 1994.
Royal Air Force St Mawgan or more simply RAF St Mawgan is a Royal Air Force station near St Mawgan and Newquay in Cornwall, England. In 2008 the runway part of the site was handed over to Newquay Airport. The remainder of the station continues to operate under the command of the RAF. RAF St Mawgan used to have the widest military runway in the UK (300 ft) and was the home of the Cornwall Air Ambulance service and more recently 505 (Wessex) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF).
The Royal Air Force Police (RAFP) is the service police branch of the Royal Air Force, headed by the provost marshal of the Royal Air Force. Its headquarters are at RAF Honington and it deploys throughout the world to support RAF and UK defence missions.
No. 2 Group is a group of the Royal Air Force which was first activated in 1918, served from 1918–20, from 1936 through the Second World War to 1947, from 1948 to 1958, from 1993 to 1996, was reactivated in 2000, and is today part of Air Command.
The Tactical Police Squadron (TPS) is a group of around 150 regular and 50 reservist (RAuxAF) Royal Air Force Police with its headquarters at RAF Honington in Suffolk, England. The reservists comprise No 3 Police Squadron.
The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces. It provides a primary reinforcement capability for the regular service, and consists of paid volunteers who give up some of their weekends, evenings and holidays to train at one of a number of squadrons around the United Kingdom. Its current mission is to provide trained personnel in support of the regular RAF.
The Sri Lanka Air Force is the air arm and the youngest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. It was founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) with the assistance of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The SLAF played a major role throughout the Sri Lankan Civil War. The SLAF operates more than 160 aircraft.
The Sri Lanka Air Force Regiment is a specialized ground combat branch within the Sri Lanka Air Force, responsible for capturing and defending airfields and associated installations. Its members are the SLAF Regiment Officers and the airmen of operations ground specialization. The SLAF Regiment is fully capable of protecting all its air bases, installations by itself using infantry and light armored units as well as launch air assaults with Airborne Infantry elements (paratroopers). Ground-based air defense of vital military and civil installations around the country is carried out by the SLAF Regiment along with combat search and rescue missions (CSAR). The corps itself is simply known as the 'regiment'.
No. 2622 (Highland) Squadron RAuxAF Regiment, is a Royal Auxiliary Air Force RAF Regiment reserve squadron based at RAF Lossiemouth. It is the northernmost RAuxAF Unit in the United Kingdom and was formed in 1979 to assist with the ground defence of that airfield. Initially, personnel were recruited solely from the local area but recruiting now extends as far south as Edinburgh and Glasgow and to the North, East and West Coasts of Scotland. The Squadron is established for 116 Auxiliary personnel plus a small contingent of regular RAF personnel.
No. 27 Squadron RAF Regiment was a CBRN squadron of the RAF Regiment in the Royal Air Force with the Defensores Defendo. It disbanded in October 2021.
Air Commodore Finlay Crerar, was a senior Royal Air Force officer during the Second World War who served as the fourth Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC). He led the ROC through the final two years of the war and the difficult period of the V-1 flying bomb raids on southern England.
No 3Police Squadron formed as a consequence of the assumptions made in the Strategic Defence Review, presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Defence in July 1998. The SDR recognised that deployed air operations are likely to take place at the end of a long supply chain or line of communication. Control of this line of communication is a task which falls to the service military police organisations: The Royal Air Force Police and the Royal Military Police. To undertake this expanded task, the establishment of the RAF Police was increased by a number of both regular personnel and reservists. After a study, it was decided that the most effective way for the reservists to be formed was as members of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. These personnel would then be integrated with the existing Tactical Police and Security Squadron to form Tactical Police Wing. Recruiting for 3 Police Squadron began in earnest in October 2002.
No. 2623 Squadron RAuxAF Regiment is a Royal Auxiliary Air Force RAF Regiment reserve squadron based at RAF Honington. It was formed on 1 July 1979 to provide ground defence of the station. Tasked with preventing Soviet Special Forces from disrupting flying operations, personnel were recruited from across East Anglia and formed an integral part of the station's war-fighting capability for the next 15 years. Throughout this period, the squadron participated in many exercises and held annual camps in the United Kingdom, Germany and Gibraltar, winning the Strickland Trophy competition in 1991.
The RAF Force Protection Force was created in 2004 as the successor to the Tactical Survive to Operate Headquarters. It consisted of Force Protection Wings which were tasked with protection of RAF stations in the UK and overseas. Each Wing was based around RAF Regiment and RAF Police squadrons, with supporting personnel.
At the end of the Cold War in 1989, the Royal Air Force (RAF) structure was as follows:
This is the structure of the Royal Air Force.
| formations and units |
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| branches and components | |||||||
| reserve forces | |||||||
| equipment | |||||||
| personnel | |||||||
| appointments | |||||||
| symbols and uniform | |||||||
| associated civil organisations | |||||||
