‘Dambusters’ take over Op Telic air support role
Source: UK MoD
Responsibility for Fast Air Support and Tactical Reconnaissance for Operation TELIC has transferred to Lossiemouth-based 617 Squadron, ‘The Dambusters’, enabling personnel from 12 (Bomber) Squadron a well-earned rest following a demanding two month deployment.
Working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and employing a 12-hour shift cycle, 12 Squadron’s multi-skilled personnel, formerly five trades rolled into three, endured the searing 50 degree temperatures throughout the day along with a particularly uncomfortable 80 per cent humidity through the night to provide an impressively high rate of serviceable aircraft.
Demonstrating flexibility, hard work and determination the ground crew generated an aircraft serviceability rate of 98 per cent across the detachment, a figurew hich rose to one hundred per cent serviceability in the last five weeks.
Reflecting on the Squadron’s performance during their two-month tour in the Middle East, Wing Commander James Linter, Officer Commanding 12 (Bomber) Squadron, said:
“I am hugely proud of their hard work in hot, arduous conditions.”
Wg Cdr Linter pointed out that the Junior Ranks personnel of the 1990s, who also operated in the Gulf, are the Senior Non-Commissioned Officers (SNCO) of today and they are able to draw on and share a wealth of relevant practical experience with today’s junior tradesmen:
“Our SNCOs have a good level of professional trade and management experience, that, combined with teamwork and morale, is the key.”
With the welfare of personnel foremost in his mind, Wg Cdr Linter added that the normal detachment rotation utilises seven squadrons on two-month rotations. This system ensures that the workload is distributed evenly, with no single squadron on detachment over a consecutive summer or Christmas.
Aircrew also have a greatly increased workload in theatre: “In the UK it can sometimes be a struggle maintaining a currency of 30 hours flying over three months, whereas in theatre, the scales tip the opposite direction, and we have to programme carefully to ensure the crews don’t exceed 30 hours a week,” Wg Cdr Linter explained.
An addition to the normal workload experienced by personnel on this detachment was the announcement that next April will see the Squadron operate out of Kandahar, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Herrick. This relocation will take the Squadron away from a well-worn path and demand detailed planning for next year, whilst simultaneously delivering the air power that is required now.