No. 22 Group Royal Air Force | |
---|---|
Active | 1 April 1918 – 30 May 1919 12 April – 1 May 1936 14 July 1936 – 23 June 1940 1 August 1943 – 31 January 1972 30 October 2006 – present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Type | Royal Air Force group |
Role | military training [1] |
Size | personnel: 3,800 military, 1,900 civilian [1] sites: 53 [1] aircraft: 420 [1] |
Part of | Air Command |
Headquarters | RAF High Wycombe |
Motto(s) | Semper resurgens Always rising again [2] |
Website | No. 22 Group RAF |
Commanders | |
Current commander | AVM Ian Townsend [1] |
No. 22 Group Royal Air Force (22 Gp) is one of six groups currently active in the Royal Air Force (RAF), falling under the responsibility of Deputy Commander-in-Chief (Personnel) in Air Command. Its previous title up until 2018 was No. 22 (Training) Group. The group 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. 22 Group provides training to all three service branches of the British Armed Forces; namely the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy, and the British Army. [1]
Although No. 22 Group was due to be formed on 1 April 1918, the same day as the Royal Air Force was established, it was not activated until 1 July 1918 , in the RAF's North Western Area. It was activated at RAF East Fortune, but moved its headquarters to the Station Hotel, Stirling. [3] The next month, on 8 August 1918, it received the designation 'Operations', making its full title No. 22 (Operations) Group. [4] It controlled No. 78 (Operations) Wing, [5] and stations at Auldbar, Chathill (airship station),[ citation needed ] Dundee, East Fortune, [4] Kirkwall / Orkney,[ citation needed ] Longside (airship station), Luce Bay, [4] RAF Machrihanish,[ citation needed ] Peterhead, and Strathberg. With the post First World War Royal Air Force force reductions, No. 22 Group was disbanded on 30 May 1919 . [4]
The next creation of No. 22 Group came on 12 April 1926 , when the group was re-formed from No. 7 Group within Inland Area. The group's designation was No. 22 (Army Co-operation) Group, and its headquarters was at South Farnborough. On 17 February 1936, No. 22 Group was transferred from the control of Inland Area to that of the Air Defence of Great Britain. Later that same year, on 1 May, the group was raised to command status. However, only just over two months later, on 14 July, the newly created command was reduced back to group status, [3] becoming part of Fighter Command on the day of Fighter Command's creation. In 1938, the group comprised 26 Squadron at RAF Catterick; RAF Hawkinge with 2 Squadron; RAF Odiham and No. 50 (Army Cooperation) Wing, with 4, 13, and 53 Squadrons; RAF Old Sarum with the School of Army Co-operation and 16 and No. 59 Squadron RAFs; and group headquarters and No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Cooperation Unit at South Farnborough. [6]
On 24 June 1940, No. 22 Group was once again raised to command status and later that year, on 1 December, the new command was expanded to become RAF Army Cooperation Command. [7]
On 1 August 1943, the group was re-established as No. 22 (Technical Training) Group in Technical Training Command out of 20 and 72 Groups, with its HQ at Buntingsdale Hall, Market Drayton. [4] It was responsible for all training in ground trades, from electronics to cooking.[ citation needed ] The group continued in its training function for nearly thirty years, until it was disbanded 31 January 1972. [4]
Training Group (TG) was formed on 1 April 1994 from the AOC Training Units with Personnel and Training Command its controlling formation. Prior to 1 April 2006 Training Group held British Government agency status, operating as the Training Group Defence Agency (TGDA). Upon the loss of its agency status, the formation became known simply as Training Group. The Group had seven areas of responsibility:
The current creation of No. 22 Group was established on 30 October 2006, once again as No. 22 (Training) Group. [3] This creation was a renaming of Training Group which ceased to exist as No 22 Group was re-established. [1]
22 Group is responsible for: [1]
The areas of responsibility are: [1]
The following military bases are directly controlled by No. 22 Group: [1]
The following aircraft squadrons are directly controlled by No. 22 Group: [1]
As of May 2023 [update] , No. 22 Group is led by Air Vice-Marshal Ian Townsend, [1] who is Chief of Staff Training RAF and Air Officer Commanding No. 22 Group. Townsend is responsible to his superior commander, the Air Member for Personnel, who is also deputy commander-in-chief personnel in Air Command.
Royal Air Force Waddington, commonly known as RAF Waddington, and informally known by its nickname 'Waddo' is a Royal Air Force station located beside the village of Waddington, 4.2 miles south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England.
Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trains the RAF's new officers and aircrew. The motto, Altium Altrix, meaning "Nurture the highest" appears above the main doors of the Officers Mess. Since January 2023, RAF Cranwell has been commanded by Group Captain Tina Jessup.
Royal Air Force Barkston Heath or RAF Barkston Heath is a Royal Air Force Relief Landing Ground under the command of RAF Cranwell near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England.
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).
Royal Air Force Syerston, commonly known simply as RAF Syerston, is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, England. Opened in 1940, it was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber base during the Second World War, operating Vickers Wellingtons, Avro Manchesters, and the Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. Post-war, it became home to Jet Provosts of the 2 Flying Training School. It is now home to the Royal Air Force Central Gliding School.
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 the station is now under the command of UK Strategic Command.
No. 12 Group RAF of the Royal Air Force was a group, a military formation, that existed over two separate periods, namely the end of the First World War when it had a training function and from just prior to the Second World War until the early 1960s when it was tasked with an air defence role.
No. 5 Group RAF was a Royal Air Force bomber group of the Second World War, led during the latter part by AVM Sir Ralph Cochrane.
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 Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at RAF Little Rissington from 1946 to 1976. Its motto is Imprimis Praecepta, Latin for "The Teaching is Everlasting".
No. 6 Group RCAF was a group of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) heavy bomber squadrons in Europe during the Second World War, between 1942 and 1945. The group operated out of airfields in Yorkshire, England.
The Air and Space Warfare Centre (ASWC) is a Royal Air Force research and testing organisation based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. It has a training branch nearby as a lodger unit of RAF Cranwell and other branches elsewhere, including at RAF High Wycombe, RAF Brize Norton, MoD Boscombe Down, and RAF Odiham.
The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and is responsible for all RAF recruiting along with officer and aircrew selection. Originally established as a naval aviation training centre during World War I, the College was established as the world's first air academy in 1919. During World War II, the College was closed and its facilities were used as a flying training school. Reopening after the War, the College absorbed the Royal Air Force Technical College in 1966.
No. 4 Group RAF (4Gp) was a Royal Air Force group, originally formed in the First World War, and reformed in the wake of the Second World War, mostly part of RAF Bomber Command, but ending its days in RAF Transport Command.
RAF Home Command was the Royal Air Force command that was responsible for the maintenance and training of reserve organisations from formation on 1 February 1939 as RAF Reserve Command with interruptions until it ceased to exist on 1 April 1959.
No. 16 Group RAF was a group of the Royal Air Force. It existed over two periods in two different roles. No. 16 Group was initially a training group, from 1918 to 1920, that had been transferred from the Royal Flying Corps. It reformed as a reconnaissance group under RAF Coastal Command, in 1936.
No. 6 Flying Training School RAF is a Flying Training School (FTS) within No. 22 (Training) Group of the Royal Air Force that delivers flying training to University Air Squadrons and Air Experience Flights.
No. 60 Group RAF was a group of the British Royal Air Force. It was established in 1940 with the headquarters in Leighton Buzzard, as part of RAF Fighter Command.
At the end of the Cold War in 1989, the structure of the Royal Air Force (RAF) was as follows:
This is the structure of the Royal Air Force.
Air Officer Commanding: Air Vice-Marshal Ian 'Cab' Townsend CBE MA RAF
Air Commodore R C Maddison OBE to be promoted Air Vice-Marshal and to be Air Officer Commanding No 22 Group in August 2020 in succession to Air Vice-Marshal W A W James CBE whose next appointment is yet to be announced.
Air Commodore I J Townsend CBE to be promoted Air Vice-Marshal and to be Air Officer Commanding No 22 Group in May 2023 in succession to Air Marshal R C Maddison OBE whose appointment as Deputy Commander Capability, Headquarters Air Command and Air Member for Personnel and Capability has previously been announced.