OPERATION HERRICK

Having only had Christmas Day to rest, it was very much business as usual for the C-130 Detachment of 904 Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW). Towards the end of the month, support from the HERRICK Afghanistan C130 Fleet was provided to their AirTransport colleagues servicing Op TELIC to ensure that Air Bridge passengers were delivered to and taken from the strategic charter flight. This unglamorous yet essential task helped to sustain the flow of personnel both into and out of theatre. On a more unusual note, the C130 Detachment was tasked to collect over 200 Afghan Border Police recruits from the airfield at Camp Bastion and deliver them to their training base in the west of Afghanistan. This was to be followed by the movement of 135 Afghan National Police from Bastion Airfield to Kandahar. The use of air assets negated the need to conduct an arduous and dangerous journey by road. The end of December, in one remarkable evening’s work, saw the Detachment move over 600 passengers, mostly members of 42 Commando Royalk Marines who had been involved in ground operations. Not content with this achievement, the crews also managed to conduct air drops to a number of Forward Operating Bases.

This has been a steady week for the IV Squadron Harriers with a number of challenging sorties. Weather has been good throughout the week enabling the best possible service to be provided to the troops on the ground. All planned tasking was met and the aircraft that are held on alert to react to short-notice requirements were launched 3 times during the period to support a variety of time-sensitive situations. On the last day of December, 2 Harriers were tasked to support British Forces near Gereshk and 1 Paveway IV was successfully dropped in support of a ‘’troops in contact’’ situation. The Paveway continues to show its utility in this Theatre while the Harrier’s reconnaissance pod is used to conduct battle damage assessment. The engineers have also had a busy time supporting the flying task. This week they also had to remove the wing on one aircraft to allow a hydraulic reservoir change.

The engineers supporting the Nimrod Detachment of 902 EAW certainly deserve a pat on the back because as a result of their hard work and flexibility, the Nimrod aircrew have not lost a single sortie all December due to engineering reasons. This was a great effort and contributes significantly to the delivery of air effect.

Number 1 Air Control Centre, continues to meet the challenges of managing the airspace surrounding its base. This week’s activity included providing support to ‘’troops in contact’’ situations and enabling the safe transition of a number of medical evacuation missions. The airspace controlled by Number 1 ACC has got to be amongst the busiest in the world and the contribution they make is vital to flight safety and enabling air operations.

OPERATION TELIC

The Tristar capability from 902 EAW enjoyed a 100% mission success rate this week flying sorties in support of both Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM. Over 120 tonnnes of aviation fuel was dispensed to a range of Coalition aircraft including FA18A and F18C Hornets, Mirage 2000Ds and EA6B Prowlers. The ground staff of 902 EAW also ended the month of December having handled a record monthly total of over 1200 transit passengers, hosting them for periods between 31/2 and 17 hours.

There was a significant milestone for the personnel of 903 EAW when the control of Basra International Airport was handed over formally to the Iraq authorities. The event attracted significant interest from regional and national press. The event marked the culmination of a considerable amount of work from 903 EAW personnel.

The last week has been a relatively quiet one for the Tornado GR4s of IX(B) Squadron. The usual blend of reconnaissance and close air support in self-defence was completed without any significant issues. Although the political situation between Iraq and the UK changed on the first of January 2009, the Tornado Detachment has not needed to change the way it conducts operations in Iraq. They will continue in this vein as long as their presence is required.

Photographs: Sgt Laura Bibby.

Image 1: The movement of Afghan National Police recruits from their home district to a police training facility in the West of Afghanistan

Image 2: RAF Movers hard at working moving some of the Cargo

Image 3: The Foreign Object Damage (FOD) Boss prepares for work

Image 4: RAF Safety Equipment Fitters prepare the Pilots equipment prior to flight

For more images view this weeks Operational Gallery.