Thirty three years of service to Queen and Country came to end today as logistics Warrant Officer Si Bervoets retired from the Royal Air Force.
Image By: SAC Kim Waterson
Mr Bervoets arrived at the Cambridgeshire Station in May 2018 as the A4 Force Elements and Headquarters Warrant Officer. It is a complex and demanding role, which covers operational planning, equipment capability, training and a significant amount of networking between different parts of the RAF.
Image By: SAC Kim Waterson
A firm eye on the future is another aspect of the job. Warrant Officer Bervoets said: “The Royal Air Force is changing all the time, so we have make sure that we’re in step today and also ready for operations in the future. Yesterday it was the Tornado and tomorrow it will be the F-35, so our capabilities have to evolve with the RAF.”
It was January 1986 when Mr Bervoets started his basic training at RAF Swinderby in Lincolnshire and logistics has been the whole of his military career, but it has been varied. Accounts, fuels and lubricants, the storage of weapons, and logistics IT systems are just some of the areas in which he has worked.
Image By: SAC Kim Waterson
There has been no shortage of travel in his career. Warrant Officer Bervoets has served on operations in Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iraq and Belize. In the UK he has been posted to RAF Wittering, RAF Cottesmore, RAF Odiham and Air Command to name but a few.
The next location will be Yorkshire. Si said: “My wife comes from Scotland and I am from Devon, so we wanted to meet somewhere in the middle.”
As is traditional for retiring Royal Air Force Warrant Officers, Mr Bervoets was presented with the black bowler hat to mark the beginning of civilian life and escorted from the Station by his colleagues.
Image By: SAC Kim Waterson
Warrant Officer Bervoets said: “It’s the people you work with that make all the difference. I’ve been to some amazing places over the years, and worked with some brilliant people, but to finish my career here is a real blessing.”
Returning to Royal Air Force Wittering, Warrant Officer Al Little will formally take over the job later this year. Until then Warrant Officer Daz Rose from No 3 Mobile Catering Squadron will fill in.
Image By: SAC Kim Waterson
Group Captain Jo Lincoln is the Station Commander at RAF Wittering and the A4 (Engineering and Logistics) Force Elements Commander. She said: “Firstly and most importantly, it is our privilege to thank Warrant Officer Bervoets for his long and distinguished service to his country. His experience and expertise have made him invaluable in so many ways, not just to me as a newly arrived A4 Force Elements Commander, but to everyone he has worked with throughout his 33 years in the RAF.”
Group Captain Lincoln concluded: “All of us at RAF Wittering, across the A4 Force and especially the Supply Trade wish him a happy and healthy retirement.”
