The school was formed on 1 April 2004 as the Defence College of Communications and Information Systems to deliver coherent and cost effective training across defence. In 2012, it joined three other technical training colleges under a combined organisation, the Defence College of Technical Training, and reverted in title to being a Defence School.
Constituent elements
The establishment comprises several affiliated schools.
DSCIS administers Blandford Camp, a 1,200-acre (4.9km2) site home to ten other organisations, mostly CIS related, with a total staff of over 1,000. The camp includes 500 service family houses, accommodation for a further 2,000 single or unaccompanied personnel, and a wide range of social amenities.
11th (The Royal School of Signals) Signals Regiment
DSCIS's mission is: to train and educate information and communications engineers, technicians and operators in order to meet the requirements of Defence and needs of trainees now and into the future.
The school deliver a wide range of initial and advanced technical training in communications and information systems, and leadership training, to British servicemen and women and international defence students. Overall the School offers 180 different course types, from short equipment-specific courses to Bachelor degrees. It offers a key contribution to modern apprenticeships for the Royal Corps of Signals and the Royal Air Force's Trade Group 4, as well as delivering the academic foundation needed for registration with professional institutes.
DSCIS staff are a mix of military, civil service and contractors covering instructional, management and support functions. It delivers approximately 200,000 training days per year, to an average student population of 1,100.
Royal Air Force Halton, or more simply RAF Halton, is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom. It is located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire. The site has been in use since the First World War but is due to close by 2025.
The Royal Corps of Signals is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications and information systems essential to all operations. Royal Signals units provide the full telecommunications infrastructure for the Army wherever they operate in the world. The Corps has its own engineers, logistics experts and systems operators to run radio and area networks in the field. It is responsible for installing, maintaining and operating all types of telecommunications equipment and information systems, providing command support to commanders and their headquarters, and conducting electronic warfare against enemy communications.
Ministry of Defence Lyneham or MOD Lyneham is a Ministry of Defence site in Wiltshire, England, about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Chippenham and 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Swindon. The site houses the Defence School of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering. Also here is Prince Philip Barracks, housing the regimental headquarters of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), 8 Training Battalion REME and the REME Museum.
Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and 11.6 mi (18.7 km) south east of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Joint Forces Intelligence Group of Joint Forces Command. Other units include the RAF Aerial Erector School, No. 54 Signals Unit and No. 591 Signals Unit.
RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), elements of Defence Equipment and Support, and the Signals Museum. It formerly hosted light aircraft flying and 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron. The Ministry of Defence announced on 6 September 2016 that the base is set to be closed following a consultation.
The United Kingdom's Strategic Command, previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services.
No. 1 School of Technical Training is the Royal Air Force's aircraft engineering school, based at RAF Halton from 1919 to 1993, as the Home of the Aircraft Apprentice scheme. The Aircraft Apprentice scheme trained young men in the mechanical trades for aircraft maintenance, the graduates of which were the best trained technicians in the RAF and would usually progress to Senior NCO ranks. However, ninety one ex-apprentices went on to achieve Air Rank. Many more became commissioned officers, including Sir Frank Whittle "father of the jet engine", who completed his apprenticeship at RAF Cranwell, before the move to RAF Halton. Graduates of the Aircraft Apprentice scheme at RAF Halton are known as Old Haltonians.
The Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering(DSAE) is a Defence Training Establishment (DTEs) of the British Ministry of Defence. It was formed on 1 April 2004 and provides training for aircraft engineering officers and tradesmen across the three British armed forces. The school comprises a headquarters, No. 1 School of Technical Training and the Aerosystems Engineer and Management Training School all based at RAF Cosford, the Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival School (RNAESS) at HMS Sultan, with elements also based at RAF Cranwell and MOD St. Athan.
Blandford Camp is a military base comprising some 390 hectares of downland lying 2 miles north-east of Blandford Forum in the county of Dorset in southern England.
No. 22 Group is one of five groups currently active in the Royal Air Force, falling under the responsibility of Deputy Commander-in-Chief (Personnel) in Air Command. Its previous title up until 2018 was No. 22 (Training) Group. It is responsible for RAF training policy and controlling the Royal Air Force College and the RAF's training stations. As such, it is the direct successor to Training Group.
No. 1 Radio School is based at RAF Cosford and forms part of the Defence School of Communications and Information Systems. Its motto is Thorough, which was the motto of the Royal Air Force Electrical and Wireless School.
The Joint Intelligence Training Group (JITG) is the location of the headquarters of both the Defence College of Intelligence and the British Army Intelligence Corps. It is located at Chicksands, Bedfordshire, approximately 35 miles (56 km) north of London. The site was formerly known as the Defence Intelligence and Security Centre (DISC) since its move from Ashford in 1997. The site was renamed as JITG on 1 January 2015.
90 Signals Unit is based at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire and provides information and communication services to deployed units of the Royal Air Force.
The Royal School of Signals is a military training establishment that is part of the United Kingdom's Defence School of Communications and Information Systems. It is at Blandford Camp in Dorset. The soldiers and officers who are attending courses at the school are assigned to the 11th Signal Regiment, the training regiment of the Royal Corps of Signals.
The Defence School of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering (DSEME) is one of four Defence Schools within the Defence College of Technical Training (DCTT) of the British Ministry of Defence. It was formed on 1 Apr 2010 and comprises a Headquarters, the British Army's 8 Training Battalion of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), and the REME Arms School all based at MOD Lyneham, and the Royal Air Force's No. 4 School of Technical Training at MOD St Athan.
Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford is a Royal Air Force station in Cosford, Shropshire, just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton.
The Defence School of Photography (DSoP) is a training centre for all photographers drawn from the three arms of the British Military and the Civil Service. The School has been located at RAF Cosford in Shropshire, England since 1963 and in its own purpose built building at Cosford since 1965. The school has gone through several iterations being firstly a Royal Flying Corps school, then a Royal Air Force School, then a Joint school before becoming the DSoP in 2003.
At the end of the Cold War in 1989 the Royal Air Force structure was as follows:
This is the structure of the Royal Air Force, as of October 2020.
This is the structure of the British Armed Forces, as of October 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United Kingdom 
British Army 
Royal Air Force 
