The official handover of Commanding Officer 903 Expeditionary Air Wing also marks the Wing’s eighth anniversary of providing air support to operations in the Middle East.
Handing over command of 903 Expeditionary Air Wing, Wing Commander Frazer ceremoniously passed the Wing’s tactical identification flash to his successor, Wing Commander Eastlake, who now becomes the 42nd Commanding Officer 903 Expeditionary Air Wing in its 78-year history and the 20th during its time supporting Operation SHADER.
903 Expeditionary Air Wing support to Operation SHADER began in 2014. During August 2014, a RAF Hercules conducted an air delivery of humanitarian aid onto Mount Sinjar in Northern Iraq to support the Yazidi people and other ethnic minorities who had fled persecution from Daesh. Following this Operataion SHADER changed focus and by September 2014 the RAF had begun conducting armed sorties over Iraq using Tornado GR4 aircraft. On 14 December 2014, 140 Expeditionary Air Wing, based at RAF Akrotiri, was renamed 903 Expeditionary Air Wing. The Wing subsumed the deployed Hercules and Tornado GR4, becoming the UK element in the US led coalition campaign to defeat Daesh.
First and foremost, I want to thank the families and loved ones of the Service Personnel that make up 903 Expeditionary Air Wing. They step up to their own hardships, sacrifices, and rigours while we are deployed overseas on operations. For that, I’m truly grateful.
It has been a wonderful privilege to be part of 903 Expeditionary Air Wing and its illustrious history. Everyone that has ever served on 903 Expeditionary Air Wing, be that in Burma, Singapore, Basra, Bastion, or RAF Akrotiri, should be immensely proud of what you have achieved. Today is the 8th anniversary of 903 Expeditionary Air Wing supporting Operation SHADER from RAF Akrotiri. I wish Wing Commander Eastlake and the entire Wing the very best of luck for their future.
Wing Commander Frazer
Ex-Commanding Officer 903 Expeditionary Air Wing
903 Expeditionary Air Wing is constantly evolving: over the eight years of support to Operation SHADER the Wing has delivered counter Daesh operations including air campaign support to the Battle of Mosul and, more recently, the Non-combatant Evacuation Operation of Kabul known as Operation PITTING. Throughout this year it has developed further, delivering enhanced Vigilance Activity operations in the Black Sea region. The strategic importance of RAF Akrotiri requires 903 Expeditionary Air Wing to continually adapt to maintain its role as an agile and dynamic forward based tactical HQ for British and Coalition Defence activity, operations, and exercises in the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa.
903 Expeditionary Air Wing has been at the forefront of limiting Daesh’s ability across the region for the past eight years. I am looking forward to working alongside everyone across the Wing as we collectively deliver on Operation SHADER.
Wing Commander Eastlake
New Commanding Officer 903 Expeditionary Air Wing
The first UK airstrike took place on 30 September 2014, when a pair of Tornado GR4s attacked a Daesh position using a Paveway IV laser-guided bomb and a Brimstone missile against an armed pickup truck. Having carried out almost daily missions targeting Daesh, by March 2017 more than 1,253 airstrikes had been conducted in Iraq. In April 2018, Tornado and Typhoon aircraft from the Wing conducted strikes against the Him Sinshar chemical weapons storage site as part of the Coalition's co-ordinated response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons.
The Expeditionary Air Wing primary mission is to support Typhoon, Voyager, Hercules and Atlas aircraft operating in support of Operation SHADER. The aircraft are supported by Number 1 Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing and 903 Expeditionary Air Wing Air Surveillance and Control Detachment staffed by 19 Squadron personnel. Their work allows 83 Expeditionary Air Group to conduct Defensive Counter Air, Close Air Support, Air to Air refuelling, Intelligence gathering and dissemination operations in support of the UK’s interests.
