In 1986, No. 7006 (Intelligence) Flight RAF was formed at RAF High Wycombe as a dedicated Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve intelligence unit. The flight's initial role was to provide linguists tailored to the needs of the Cold War. At the time of formation, the new flight sat under Headquarters, RAF Volunteer Reserves along with Nos. 7010, 7630, and 7644 flights. [1] [2]
During the Gulf War, the flight deployed alongside 7644 (Public Relations) Flight, and 4624 (Movements) and 4626 (Aeromedical Evacuation) Squadrons. [2] [3]
In 1997, following the Front Line First reform, the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve was merged into the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, and the flight expanded to form No. 7006 Squadron RAuxAF. Sometime by 2021, the squadron was moved under command of the new Intelligence Reserve Wing sitting under No. 2 Group RAF, today based at RAF Waddington. In 2016, the squadron was based at RAF Cranwell [1] [2] [4]
Today the squadron is based at RAF Waddington, with personnel serving at RAF Wyton, RAF High Wycombe, and RAF Digby. The squadron today is one of only three units providing intelligence support to the regular RAF. The squadron's title has also changed to become No. 7006 (Volunteer Reserves) Intelligence Squadron RAuxAF. [1] [2] [4]
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 soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such tasks are non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO), recovery of downed aircrew, and in-depth defence of airfields by way of aggressively patrolling and actively seeking out infiltrators in a large area surrounding airfields. 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 flight size commitment to the Special Forces Support Group.
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).
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.
No. 622 Squadron RAF is a reserve aircrew squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. During World War II, it operated as a bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force. Post-war it served shortly as a transport squadron in the RAuxAF.
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 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), the active reserve for the RAF, by providing an additional non-active reserve. However during the Second World War the high demand for aircrew absorbed all available RAuxAF personnel and led the RAFVR to quickly become the main pathway of aircrew entry into the RAF. It was initially composed of civilians recruited from neighbourhood reserve flying schools, run by civilian contractors with largely RAF-trained flying instructors as well as other instructors in related air war functions, such as observers and wireless operators.
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. 616 Squadron is an active Reserve unit of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) assigned to the RAF ISTAR Force at RAF Waddington. It was originally formed as a unit of the British Auxiliary Air Force in 1938, active throughout World War 2 as a fighter unit, becoming the 1st operational RAF unit to fly jets and disbanded in 1957. The unit reformed in its current guise in April 2019 as 616 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
No. 7644 (VR) Public Relations Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force is a unit of the British Royal Air Force. The VR designation indicates the unit's history as part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR). The squadron's role is to provide Media Operations support for RAF and NATO forces world-wide in times of peace and war. The unit is based at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire.
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.
No. 7010 (VR) Photographic Interpretation Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force is a unit of the British Royal Air Force. It was founded in April 1953 as No. 7010 Flight, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, to provide strategic imagery analysis support to the Royal Air Force. In 1965 the flight expanded its role to include tactical imagery analysis. In August 1982, Her Majesty The Queen approved the issue of a badge to the flight. In allusion to the unit's role, the emblem of a human eye is portrayed with a wing embellishment and set in front of a roundel. The motto Vocati Veniemus may be freely translated as "when summoned we shall be there". The collapse of the Warsaw Pact resulted in a large reduction of NATO forces in central Europe. In turn this has led to a major reduction in, and reorganisation of, the United Kingdom's regular and reserve forces. Within this overall plan for defence, No. 7010 Flight became No. 7010 (VR) Photographic Interpretation Squadron.
No. 503 Squadron RAuxAF was an auxiliary squadron of the Royal Air Force. It operated as a bomber squadron in the 1920s and 1930s, but was disbanded before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Number 601 Squadron is a squadron of the RAF Reserves, based in London. The squadron took part in the Battle of Britain, during which the first Americans to fly in World War II were members of the squadron.
602 Squadron is a Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron. Originally formed in 1925 as a light bomber squadron, its role changed in 1938 to army co-operation and in 1939 to that of a fighter squadron.
No 606 (Chiltern) Squadron was formed as a Royal Auxiliary Air Force helicopter support squadron in 1996 at RAF Benson and gaining its official number three years later on 1 October 1999. It provides personnel for the RAF tactical support helicopter fleet and does not operate any aircraft itself.
No. 2620 Squadron RAuxAF Regiment is a Royal Auxiliary Air Force RAF Regiment reserve squadron based at RAF Marham, in Norfolk, fairly close to the RAF Regiment's main base at RAF Honington, in northern Suffolk, and not far from 2623 Squadron, another RAF Regiment auxiliary squadron, based in Honington.
No. 2503 Squadron RAuxAF Regiment is a Royal Auxiliary Air Force RAF Regiment reserve squadron based at RAF Waddington, in Lincolnshire, fairly close to the city of Lincoln and RAF Cranwell. Gunners are recruited both from ex-regulars in the RAF Regiment and civilians in a 50 miles radius surrounding RAF Waddington. The squadron is an infantry squadron in the dismounted close-combat force protection role.
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, as of October 2020.
No. 505 (Wessex) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) is a general support unit of the Royal Air Force's reserve component, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
United Kingdom 
Royal Air Force