Letter from the Squadron - 2010

LETTER FROM THE SQUADRON - 2010

Greetings once again from OC 208 Squadron after another busy and eventful year. Sadly for me, this will be my last letter from the Squadron, as sandy places beckon in July for a quick 6 months of something totally different. One of the Squadron’s flight commanders will hold the fort for a few months until my replacement, Wing Commander Eugene Moriarty, finishes Staff College and completes his QFI refresher training. And so the wheel turns...

The previous 12 months at Valley have also seen significant change. The skies above now regularly echo to the sound of a slightly louder and lumpier Hawk in the form of the new TMk2. While the Squadron may not get to fly it, this development period will last until the end of 2011 when full student training commences. To enable this, there's a huge amount of construction work already well under way. With the new Military Flying Training System driving the whole initiative, a ‘super-hangar’ and associated buildings are near completion. The only down-side being that my once fabulous View of Snowdonia is no more...the cost of progress! There is currently no change to 208 Squadrons anticipated role. We will continue to train pilots straight from the Tucano at RAF Linton. Once the T2 is introduced, the Squadron and its role will reduce somewhat, as the Hawk T1 will be used to ‘fill the training gap’ that is anticipated between Linton's exit standard, and the T2 entry standard. Although this will be a smaller and dual-only course, it will include elements of Air Combat and tactical low-level training which will certainly be more rewarding for the staff.

Despite the changes, 208 Squadron has continued to deliver its primary task of training new fast jet pilots, with 2009 seeing the graduation of 8 courses and a total of 39 young aviators progressing to the next stage of training on the Tactical weapons Unit (TWU). The effort involved in meeting this task should not be underestimated with the Squadron flying 5707hrs over 5909 sorties during the year. The Squadron was able to complete nearly 95% of all planned sorties, which is a testament to the reliability of the Hawk TMk1, and believe it or not, the excellent weather record on Anglesey! Despite this success, there were a significant number of students who were unable to meet the required standard with a disappointing suspension rate last year around a very high 25%. However, with a contracting Air Force, the front-line has continued to receive enough high-quality pilots to meet all Defence needs. Furthermore, not all of the students who did manage to complete the course continued on to TWU training 208 Squadron has welcomed 6 new ‘creamie’ instructors in the last 12 months, and for the first time, two students have been posted to Creech Air Force Base, USA, to fly the Reaper Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) with the RAF's 39 Squadron. These two ‘lucky ones' will be operating UAVs in Afghanistan, including weaponeering, but all from Nevada - the mind boggles! As this is the first time this streaming option has been tried, the performance of the two officers is being carefully monitored to see if it will become routine for the Squadron. There’s a possibility that another 2 will follow in the autumn...

In addition to the 6 new creamies, the Sqn welcomed another 10 instructors over the last year,

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