RAF Strike Command
Strike Command | |
---|---|
Active | 30 April 1968–1 April 2007 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Headquarters | RAF High Wycombe |
Motto(s) | Defend and Strike[1] |
The
History
Strike Command was formed on 30 April 1968 by the merger of Bomber Command and Fighter Command,[2] which became No. 1 Group and No. 11 Group respectively. Signals Command was absorbed on 1 January 1969,[3] Coastal Command was absorbed on 28 November 1969,[4] becoming No. 18 Group RAF. The former component Coastal Command groups became the Northern Maritime Air Region and Southern Maritime Air Region. Air Support Command (formerly Transport Command) was absorbed on 1 September 1972, becoming No. 46 Group RAF.[5]
NATO Role
In 1975, the Command doubled as
Post Cold War
The RAF's Process and Organisation Review concluded that Strike Command and Personnel and Training Command should be co-located at a single command headquarters: it was subsequently decided that both commands should be located at High Wycombe and in 2007 Strike Command and Personnel and Training Command were merged into a single command – Air Command.[9]
Structure
Headquarters Strike Command (often abbreviated to HQSTC) was located at RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. The Command was divided into a number of Groups, which at first reflected the function of the old Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Command. Subsequent reorganisations changed things greatly and before the final reorganization, the two Groups which made up Strike Command were:
- No. 1 Group RAF – the "Air Combat Group"
- No. 2 Group RAF – the "Air Combat Support Group"
Component groups of Strike Command included:
- No. 1 Group RAF 1 April 1968 – 1 April 2007
- No. 2 Group RAF 1 April 1993 – 1 April 1996, 7 January 2000 – 1 April 2007
- No. 3 Group RAF 1 April 2000 – 1 April 2006
- No. 11 Group RAF 1 April 1968 – 1 April 1996
- No. 18 Group RAF 28 November 1969 – 1 April 1996
- No. 11/18 Group RAF 1 April 1996 – 7 January 2000
- No. 38 Group RAF 1 July 1972 – 17 November 1983
- No. 46 Group RAF 1 September 1972 – 1 January 1976
- No. 90 Group RAF1 January 1969 – 1 September 1972
- Royal Observer Corps 1 April 1968 – 31 December 1995
Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief included:[10]
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Kyle1968–1968
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Spotswood1968–1971
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Humphrey1971–1974
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Smallwood1974–1976
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Nigel Maynard1976–1977
- Air Chief Marshal Sir David Evans1977–1980
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Williamson1980–1982
- Air Chief Marshal Sir David Craig1982–1985
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Harding1985–1988
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Patrick Hine1988–1991
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon1991–1992
- John Thomson1992–1994
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns1994
- William Wratten1994–1997
- Air Chief Marshal Sir John Allison1997–1999
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Squire1999–2000
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Anthony Bagnall2000–2001
- 2001–2003
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge2003–2006
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Joe French2006–2007
Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief
- Air Marshal Sir Nigel Maynard1972–1973
- Air Marshal Sir Peter Horsley1973–1975
- Air Marshal Sir Michael Beetham1975–1976
- Air Marshal Sir John Stacey1976–1977
- Air Marshal Sir Alan Davies1977
- Air Marshal Sir Alfred Ball1977–1978
- Air Marshal Sir Robert Freer1978–1979
- Air Marshal Sir Thomas Kennedy1979–1981
- Air Marshal Sir Peter Bairsto1981–1984
- Air Marshal Sir Joseph Gilbert1984–1986
- Air Marshal Sir Brendan Jackson1986–1988
- Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Hayr1988–1989
- Air Marshal Sir John Kemball1989–1993
- Air Marshal Sir Richard Johns1993–1994
- Air Marshal Sir John Allison1994–1996
- Air Marshal Graeme Robertson1996–1998
- Air Marshal Sir Timothy Jenner1998–2000
- Air Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup2000–2002
- Air Marshal Sir Brian Burridge2002–2003
- Air Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy2003–2004
- Air Marshal Sir Clive Loader2004–2007
See also
References
- ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
- ^ "RAF Timeline 1960–1968". RAF. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012.
- ^ The history of RAF Watton in detail for 1969 Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ashworth 1992, p. 222.
- ^ RAF Support Command Round-the-World Global Flight
- ^ Commander UK Air Forces appointed Flight International, 17 April 1975
- ^ RAF Timeline 1990–1999 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine RAF
- ^ Royal Air Force, "New Millenium - New Strike Command: Royal Air Force Headquarters to Restructure," Release 430/99, 1 December 1999, accessed at http://www.mod.uk/news/prs/430_99.htm. Copy preserved at http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/1182/uk-mod-restructures-raf-strike-command-(dec.-2).html.
- ^ RAF Command RAF
- ^ Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – RAF Home Commands formed between 1958 – 2002 Archived 5 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- Ashworth, Chris. RAF Coastal Command: 1936–1969. Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1992. ISBN 1-85260-345-3