In October, The Royal Air Force welcomed the first ever Royal Canadian Air Force pilot to begin a C-17A Globemaster III exchange tour with 99 Squadron.
Captain Craig Hughes, of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), moved to the UK last year to join 99 Squadron at RAF Brize Norton as the first ever Canadian to begin an exchange tour on the RAF’s C-17 aircraft.
Craig previously flew the C-17 with 429 Transport Squadron, based at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario, since he gained his “wings” as an ab-initio pilot in 2013.
Some of Craig’s favourite missions on the C-17 so far have been deploying to Canada’s west coast in 2017 to support the evacuation of communities affected by forest fires, along with flying the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Craig has also been involved in operations supporting the fight against Daesh in the Middle East and terrorism in West Africa.
Craig can’t wait to get involved with flying similar missions with 99 Squadron and is delighted to be on this exchange tour. He said:
“It’s a real honour to be the pilot selected for the first ever exchange programme and I can’t wait to get started over the next few months!”
Captain Craig Hughes
Royal Canadian Air Force
When the situation allows, Craig is hoping to be able to travel the UK and Europe with his wife Emilie, and they both look forward to watching their first live football match and Formula 1 race. Despite all the differences between the UK and Canada, Craig misses the variety of crisp flavours at home the most!
The UK already has a long-established exchange programme for pilots on the C-17 with the United States Air Force, and currently has a 99 Squadron pilot filling Craig’s space on 429 Transport Squadron in Canada. These exchanges are designed to share different experiences and expertise from one Air Force to another and it is hoped that this will expand in the future. Craig added: “There is also a similar Air Loadmaster (ALM) exchange in the pipeline, so this will hopefully be the first step in building and strengthening the tie between 99 Squadron and 429 Transport Squadron back home in Canada.”
The Canadian C-17 is often used in very different environmental conditions to 99 Squadron’s fleet, such as when providing supplies to Alert Airport, the northernmost airport in the world, on a runway made of ice! Landing on a “5000 ft strip of ice” is the coolest thing Craig says he has ever done and his experience in that skill ties in with the Semi Prepared Runway Operations (SPRO) capability that 99 Squadron is currently developing.
Wing Commander Kev Latchman formally welcomed Craig to 99 Squadron in October after he completed his first flight from Brize Norton and said:
“The addition of Craig’s experience to 99 Squadron will allow us to learn a vast amount from how he and his colleagues operate the aircraft and will contribute to the great relationship we share with 429 Transport Squadron and the Royal Canadian Air Force”.
Wing Commander Kev Latchman
Officer Commanding No. 99 Squadron
