The Roles of RAF Reserves
From 'Civvy Street' to Camp Bastion: The Roles of RAF Reserves
Squadron Leader Colin Mathieson, 44, has been a Medical Support Officer with 4626 Aeromedical Sqn for 25 years, currently based at RAF Lyneham.
“Our Squadron’s role is to care for patients from the point of injury in Afghanistan and transport them all the way home throughout the hospital chain. We look after them whether they have just been injured, are in the hospital in Camp Bastion, or we are flying them back to a UK hospital.”
“On my most recent tour in Afghanistan I worked with the PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) as a Liaison Officer with the Afghan medical departments, looking to see where we could help in the provision of healthcare within Helmand Province. I worked on a health and hygiene education programme which used Afghan healthcare workers to deliver essential life saving teaching in areas of great need - this programme saw some 17,000 Afghans receive training and basic health packs during my deployment. In my civilian role I work as a Commercial Director for JustGoodCars.com. The experience I get from working in the commercial sector helped me when I was liaising with very senior officials in Afghanistan.”
Corporal Dawn McDonald is Ward Sister on a surgical ward at Wellesley Hospital in Southend.She has been an Aeromed Nurse on 4626 Squadron for 5 years.
“The jobs are very different; when I was deployed I was dealing with amputations and blast injuries. I was flying home the lads to get them home to their families, going straight to surgery at Birmingham. I found it difficult when meeting the families and imagined how I would feel it they were my boys. Many of the injured were the same ages as my four children, aged 17 to 25. I told them they would be mothered on the way home - I was there as a nurse first, but would offer whatever support they needed. I did get great pleasure in taking them home to safety - it was very rewarding, and I will say that it was the best thing I have done in my life so much so that I have signed on as a Reservist for another 5 years.”
Reservists of 4624 Movements Squadron work alongside RAF regular personnel, handling passengers and freight at airfields around the world. Logistics Movers are responsible for accepting, preparing and loading cargo and passengers for travel on RAF Air Transport, coalition and charter aircraft.
Senior Aircraftsman Paul Kenny, 47, is a member of 4624 Movements Sqn at RAF Brize Norton. He is also Deputy Manager of Sainsburys in Dunstable.
“I prepare loads for transport – both by air and road. I also work with the physical loading and unloading of aircraft freight and passengers. Both jobs are based around team work, helping and supporting each other to deliver the end result – from filling the shelves of Sainsburys to securing the loads on an aircraft bound for Afghanistan. In both roles you have customers – all have an expectation of service, and it is up to you to deliver it. When you are working alongside the regular RAF movements staff you are just one team – everyone gets on with their task.”
The Community Manager at Gloucester Rugby Club is known on 4624 Movements Squadron as Leading Aircraftsman Gary Little, aged 44.
“The best comparison I can make between my two jobs is in relation to working as part of a well motivated team. Gloucester Rugby Club has had a good relationship with the Armed Forces, with a number of players coming from a military background. Sports and Rugby I believe bring together attributes such as good team ethics, respect, leadership and communications skills – just as you need in the military.”
501 Squadron is a force protection Sqn manned by Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment Gunners. Training as a Gunner is varied and challenging – from firing live weapons on a range, learning unarmed combat in the gym, abseiling from helicopters or learning survival skills.
Lance Corporal Mark Armstrong, 23, joined 501 Sqn 6 years ago.
“I wanted a challenge and a chance to travel and see the World. I’m a TeachingAssistant in Cheltenham – I work with pupils who have been excluded from school. Both roles can be challenging, but my Reserves role gets me out of the classroom, gets me outdoors, and offers opportunities that you just wouldn’t find in any other job.”
Leading Aircraftsman Justin Ritchings has been with 501 Sqn for a year, as well as being a student on a Sports Coaching Course at the University of Gloucestershire. “I ultimately want to join the regular RAF as a Regiment Officer, and decided to become a Reservist whilst I am University to gain experience. When I tell my friends I’m in the RAF Reserves they ask if I fly planes, so I have to explain the role we have in the protection of personnel, aircraft and airfields. In my Summer break from Uni I am working as a fitness instructor, so I will wear my uniform to work running boxercise classes!”
3 (RAuxAF) Police Squadron is the expeditionary arm of the RAF Police. Trained Reservists are primarily used to support No 1 (Tactical) Police Squadron, with whom they are also deployed on Operations. RAF Police training consists of a 15-month ‘battlefield policeman’ course.
Corporal Ieuan Guest, 29, is a Reservist policeman with No 3 Royal AuxiliaryAir Force Sqn based at RAF Henlow. He was mobilised from his day job in the Metropolitan Police to serve his first 6 month tour in Afghanistan. “I get the best of both worlds – doing my bit for the community back home in the UK and then doing something extra with my RAF family. On my tour I worked closely with the Afghan National Army, providing force protection out on joint patrols. During my time there we could really see the changes in the infrastructure – we saw it build up, near the highways. One area used to be a small village of a few tents, now they have a petrol station and a parade of shops. Our team definitely made a difference, helping to provide the security to enable the locals to build.”
Just over 1,300 personnel serve as part time RAF Volunteer Reserves, spread across 20 Royal Auxiliary Air Force Squadrons around the Country. They are regularlydeployed around the World alongside their regular RAF colleagues - more than 100 are currently mobilised in support of Operations in Afghanistan and Libya.
See also:
Air Cadet Volunteers throughout the United Kingdom have embraced National Uniform to Work Day
BBC coverage - Military reservists wear uniforms to work
The RAF Reserves are recruiting – for further information go RAF Reserves
See also: Armed Forces Day 2011
Picture: Members of RAF Reservists in their uniforms prepare for Uniform to Work Day on the 22 June 2011 at RAF Brize Norton. Pictured Top to Bottom; Flt Lt Laura Hodson, Flt Lt Chris Berry, Sqn Ldr Colin Mathieson, Cpl Julie Jones, Cpl Dawn McDonald, Flt Lt John Stephens, SAC Garry Little, SAC Ben Prentice, SAC Paul Kenny.
Photography: Sgt Paddy Hill RAF/MOD Crown Copyright 2011.