No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing

Last updated

No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing RAF
Previous units:
No. 138 Airfield RAF
No. 138 (Bomber) Wing RAF
No. 138 Wing RAF
No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (Fighter / Ground Attack) RAF
Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
138EAW.jpg
No. 138 Wing Badge
Active1 April 2006 -
10 November 1943 - 12 May 1944
12 May 1944 - 14 April 1946
1 April 1953 - 1 January 1960
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
Type Expeditionary Air Wing
RoleFighter / Ground Attack
Size Wing
Garrison/HQ RAF Marham
Motto(s)Defend by Attack [1]
Commanders
Officer Commanding Group Captain P C Osborn
Aircraft flown
Fighter Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II

No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing RAF is a deployable Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Marham, Norfolk, England, UK.

Contents

The current wing was established on 1 April 2006 the unit has history dating back to February 1943.

Second World War

No. 138 Airfield RAF

The unit was formed on 10 November 1943 at RAF Lasham within No. 2 Group RAF. [2]

No. 138 (Bomber) Wing RAF

No. 138 Wing fought with No. 2 Group RAF, RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) in North-West Europe after D-Day.

Current use

Re-formed on 1 April 2006 as an EAW, the Wing is led by the Station Commander of RAF Marham, supported by their Station management team. The deployable elements of the RAF Marham form the core of the EAW, reinforced by assigned Capability-based Module Readiness System (CMRS) personnel and elements of the Air Combat Support Units (ACSUs). EAWs enable the RAF to train as cohesive units of Air Power which are prepared and capable of transitioning quickly from peacetime structures and deploying swiftly on operations.[ citation needed ]

During December 2021 the unit deployed to Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, UK. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Waddington</span> Royal Air Force main operating base in Lincolnshire, England

Royal Air Force Waddington otherwise known as RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force station located beside the village of Waddington, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Marham</span> Royal Air Force main operating base in Norfolk, England

Royal Air Force Marham, commonly abbreviated RAF Marham is a Royal Air Force station and military airbase near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Cottesmore</span> Former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England

Royal Air Force Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. On 15 December 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that the station would close in 2013 as part of defence spending cuts, along with the retirement of the Harrier GR9 and the disbandment of Joint Force Harrier. The formal closing ceremony took place on 31 March 2011, and the airfield became a satellite of RAF Wittering until March 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Leeming</span> Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Leeming or more simply RAF Leeming is a Royal Air Force station located near Leeming, North Yorkshire, England. It was opened in 1940 and was jointly used by the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Between 1950 and 1991, it operated mostly as a training base with Quick Reaction Force (QRF) Panavia Tornado F3 fighters based there in the latter stages of the Cold War and into the early 21st century. Since 2006, it has become the home of the deployable RAF communications cadre and the home of No. 135 Expeditionary Air Wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Wyton</span> UK military intelligence analysis facility in Cambridgeshire, England

Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now used by the UK Strategic Command.

Aberporth Airport is situated southwest of Aberporth, Ceredigion, Wales. The airport is being developed as West Wales Airport for domestic flights. It is also developing as a centre for the deployment of civil and military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), known as 'drones'. The airport underwent major improvements in 2008 which extended the length of the runway from 945 to 1,257 m.

On 1 April 2006 Expeditionary Air Wings (EAWs) were formed at nine of the RAF's Main Operating Bases. Each EAW has its own identity and is led by the Station Commander, supported by their Station management team. The deployable elements of the station structures form the core of each EAW, reinforced by elements of the Air Combat Service Support Units (ACSSUs). Flying and Force Protection force elements are attached to meet the requirements of each operation. EAWs enable the RAF to train as cohesive air power units which are prepared and capable of transitioning quickly from peacetime structures and deploying swiftly on operations in tailored packages.

Royal Air Force Downham Market, or more simply RAF Downham Market, was a Royal Air Force station in the west of the county of Norfolk, England which operated during the second half of the Second World War.

No. 34 Expeditionary Air Wing is a deployable Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, England, UK.

No. 140 Expeditionary Air Wing is a deployable Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland, UK.

No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing is an Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It is currently based at RAF Akrotiri on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, and is tasked with conducting operations against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Headcorn</span>

Royal Air Force Headcorn or more commonly known as RAF Headcorn is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground located 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Headcorn, Kent, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Alconbury</span> Royal Air Force station near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Royal Air Force Alconbury, or more simply RAF Alconbury, is an active Royal Air Force station near Huntingdon, England. The airfield is in the civil parish of The Stukeleys, close to the villages of Great Stukeley, Little Stukeley, and Alconbury. Flying operations are no longer based at the site, with most of the land, including the runway, having been sold in 2009 to become the new settlement of Alconbury Weald.

No. 135 Expeditionary Air Wing previously No. 135 Wing is a wing of the Royal Air Force. It was stationed at RAF Leeming, controlling the deployable subunits of the base. It was activated on 1 April 2006 as part of a modernisation package to make the RAF more deployable on an expeditionary basis.

No. 121 Expeditionary Air Wing is a deployable Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, England, UK.

No. 122 Expeditionary Air Wing is a former deployable Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Cottesmore, Rutland, England.

No. 125 Expeditionary Air Wing is a former deployable Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Leuchars, Fife, Scotland.

No. 128 Wing RAF is a former Royal Air Force wing that was operational during both the Second World War and the Cold War.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Pine, L.G. (1983). A dictionary of mottoes (1 ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p.  46. ISBN   0-7100-9339-X.
  2. ↑ Sturtivant & Hamlin 2007, p. 46.
  3. ↑ "The RAF to Deploy to Remote Islands in Outer Hebrides". RAF. Retrieved 1 December 2023.

Bibliography

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.