No. 7644 Squadron RAF

Last updated

No. 7644 (VR) Public Relations Squadron, RAuxAF
Active1940 – Present.
As a squadron: 1997 – Present
Country United Kingdom
Branch Royal Air Force
RoleMedia Operations
Garrison/HQ RAF Halton
Motto(s)Verite a Jamais
("Truth or Nothing")
Commanders
Current
commander		 Wing Commander Howard Leader
Honorary Air Commodore Air Commodore Dr Marcia McLaughlin

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 (military speak for public relations) support for RAF and NATO forces world-wide in times of peace and war. [1] The unit is based at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire.

Contents

History

What was to become No. 7644 Squadron was the 1940 brainchild of Lord Beaverbrook. The government of the time identified the need to keep the public informed about the war, giving the hard facts, but also introducing servicemen and women telling their own stories. It was realised that the reporters covering the stories needed to be guided by people with dual expertise. [2]

Lord Beaverbrook's idea was to find information experts with a service background or interest and ask them to become officers in each of the Armed Forces. Almost everyone approached volunteered and so was formed the first specialist public relations unit in the RAFVR. [2]

After the war, the RAF recognised the benefits of maintaining a small number of journalists in uniform. After being part of other units, these PR specialists became No. 7644 (VR) Public Relations Squadron RAuxAF at the amalgamation of the RAFVR and the RAuxAF on 5 April 1997. [2]

Role

Ex BERSAMA LIMA 2019 m358 Ex BERSAMA LIMA 2019 m358.jpg
Ex BERSAMA LIMA 2019 m358

Media Operations

The RAF has full-time officers serving in communications, notably at No. 7644 Squadron's headquarters unit, Media & Communication Group at Air Command, RAF High Wycombe. No. 7644 Squadron personnel support these professionals whenever required. The role might be to organise a one-off media facility, or provide longer term effort by standing in as a Corporate Communications Officer at an RAF Station, or running a Media Operations unit on a Deployed Operating Base, as for example during the Iraq War.

Using its journalist's skills, the squadron prepares a large number of news releases, 'home town stories' on serving personnel, and video and audio news releases for the media. Often exercises and operations in the Royal Air Force happen at short notice, and in distant parts of the world. Organising a full press trip may not be possible, or affordable, so No. 7644 Squadron can provide the personnel and equipment to gather material which is sent out to media at home for them to make their own stories out of.

Media Training

The Royal Air Force is keen to promote its image, and develop a reputation for being open and honest. To achieve this, officers of all ranks need a range of media training and particularly interview training. This gives them the confidence to agree to interview requests from the media, and be able to answer questions directly in a friendly manner, supported by appropriately trained specialist media staff. No. 7644 Squadron provides a range of media training, supporting units such as the Media Operations Training unit based at RAF Halton, the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham, and the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.

'Simpress'

In order to give RAF personnel a chance to experience contact with the media, No. 7644 Squadron officers act as 'simulated' press at exercises, to provide an authentic and robust experience of what it is like to be a subject in front of the microphone or camera. These can be small events, or major exercises involving hundreds of personnel over several days, of which the media and public relations element will only be a small part. An important element is being fair, but robust in questioning, and preparing individuals for what may be difficult encounters with reporters.

Other media and publications

No. 7644 Squadron produces various individual pieces of work ranging from magazines and other publications, to video productions.

Related Research Articles

RAF Halton

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.

RAF Regiment Force security element of Royal Air Force

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 Operations (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 and Royal Marines, and provides flight size commitment to the Special Forces Support Group.

RAF St Mawgan

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 Police About the Royal Air Force police service

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.

The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve , often abbreviated to RAFVR(T), was a Volunteer Reserve element of the Royal Air Force specifically appointed in a cadet training role within the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Members of the RAFVR(T) had no call-up liability and often operated part-time with the Air Experience Flights and Volunteer Gliding Squadrons, which provide flight experience for the Royal Air Force Air Cadets.

Royal Auxiliary Air Force Military unit

The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of Her 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. Queen Elizabeth II is Air Commodore-in-Chief of the RAuxAF.

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 Squadron RAuxAF Regiment Military unit

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.

Air and Space Warfare Centre Air Space Warfare Centre at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, England

The Air and Space Warfare Centre (AWSC) 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 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. 601 Squadron RAF Military unit

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.

No. 612 Squadron RAF was originally formed in 1937 as an Army Co-operation unit, and flew during the Second World War in the General Reconnaissance role. After the war the squadron was reformed and flew in the Day Fighter role until disbanded in 1957. At present the squadron has a non-flying role as a RAF Medical Reserves unit.

No. 606 Squadron RAF Military unit

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. 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.

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.

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.

No. 7006 Intelligence Squadron RAuxAF is a specialist intelligence unit of the Royal Air Force's reserve component, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Since 1997, the squadron has been the only dedicated reserve intelligence squadron in the RAF.

References

  1. ↑ "No. 7644 Squadron (VR) Squadron". Royal Air Force. 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "7644 Squadron Facebook". Royal Air Force. 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
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.