Welcome to the Winter Edition of Insight Magazine. I hope that you have all had an excellent Christmas and New Year and haven’t found the return to work too much of a culture shock!
This issue of the Station magazine offers a plethora of articles from the Station Running Club’s Cyprus Challenge to the ISTAR Forces exploits on Ex RESOLUTE HUNTER. Both showcasing the opportunities available to Station personnel to represent the RAF all over the world.
Alongside an article from 17 Test & Evaluation Sqn highlighting other activities going on in the wider RAF we have our usual article from the Station Chaplaincy Team, this one asking some of the big questions in life.
It is also great to see an article celebrating the 51 Sqn Engineers being awarded the Rolls-Royce Engineering Efficiency Award for their efforts in maintaining the Rivet Joint’s consistently high operational output at the Annual Flying Task level.
For those keen to submit articles to Insight Magazine please send them to WADInsightEditorialTeam@mod.gov. uk. We are always excited to read about your endeavours in work and sport and the wider activities and engagement which takes place at RAF Waddington.
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Station Commander’s Foreword...
Gp Capt Dominic Holland
Iwould like to start by welcoming everyone back to RAF Waddington. I hope that you have all enjoyed the Christmas and New Year break and are returning to work full of optimism for 2025. For those of you that were deployed during the recent festivities I would like to send my thanks for your unwavering effort and hope that you will soon be home with your loved ones. I have no doubt that 2025 will be another busy year for our station, but that it will also be a successful one.
This Winter edition of Insight magazine highlights some of the festivities celebrated at the end of 2024, most notably the Op CHRISTMAS Tea Party hosted in the Pip Beck Centre. This kind of occasion is a wonderful opportunity for RAF Waddington to engage with local veterans and service widows at what can be a particularly
tough or lonely time of year. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the RAF Waddington personnel who contributed to the organisation and running of this event alongside the RAFBF and other partners, it was a resounding success.
This edition also includes articles highlighting the work of RAF Waddington personnel deployed on Operations and Exercises, notably Ex RESOLUTE HUNTER. The ISTAR Force, largely based at RAF Waddington, deployed almost 100 people to Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, USA in support of the Exercise. The deployed personnel operated effectively in a combined and joint environment with FIVE EYES partners and were able to identify operationally imperative lessons as well as conduct invaluable training. These kind of exercises are what allow RAF Waddington’s personnel to develop into better operators as well as showcase their abilities and I am very proud of the work that we do around the world.
I will part with a thank you for all of the hard work and effort that you have put into 2024 and to say that I cannot wait to see what we can all achieve together in 2025. Please continue to submit your articles to this publication, it is your Station Magazine and a space for you to celebrate the things that we achieve.
51
SQUADRON
ENGINEERING TEAM
AWARDED THE ROLLS-ROYCE ENGINEERING EFFICIENCY AWARD
Over the past two years 51 Squadron has managed to maintain an exceptionally consistent operational flying rate of its RC-135 (Rivet Joint) fleet after its surge hours in 2022/23.
The Squadron's task is around 90% operational missions for strategic benefit and therefore is critically analysed at the highest levels of Defence. The success of the Rivet Joint aircrew is built on the hard work and initiative of the Squadron's engineers.
The commitment and professionalism of the engineering cadre has been
superb with deft management of taut supervisor resources by the 51 Squadron Engineering Team. The team has successfully ensured a ready for mission rate of more than 85%, tested new concepts to support Agile Combat Employment, and has successfully deployed several times for both operational and large-scale overseas deployments.
For their excellent achievements in support of a significant operational task, especially for ensuring a consistent level of operational output at the Annual Flying Task level, the Engineering team were awarded the Rolls Royce Efficiency Award in November 2024.
Air Vice Marshall Shaun Harris, Director Air Support, Air Command, presenting the Rolls Royce Efficiency award to Sqn Ldr Iain Gray, Senior Engineering Officer, 51 Sqn.
7 TES AT GRAY FLAG 24
During September, more than 60 personnel from 17 TES deployed to Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Point Mugu in support of GRAY FLAG. This annual large force test event lasted 2 weeks, and involved aircraft, surface vessels, and unmanned systems participating and launching from Point Mugu, Nellis, and Lemoore. Along with 17 TES’ 3 F35-Bs, GRAY FLAG provided an opportunity for integration and operational evaluation for up-and-coming capabilities with US services, as well as Canadian and Australian nation aircraft. This test event could not have been executed as successfully without the critical ongoing support of the RAF Voyager based out of March Air Reserve
Base throughout GRAY FLAG to provide air-to-air refuelling for both UK and partner nations.
The Central Fund supported 17 TES behind the scenes. Merchandise sales topped $13,000 throughout the 2 weeks with the GRAY FLAG patches selling out in a record 3 days! This money raised will be used to purchase new merchandise, support welfare requests, and subsidise events throughout the year. During a weekend of no flying, the Central Fund supported a barbeque on the beach. Everyone enjoyed a competitive game of Royal Air Force vs Royal Navy volleyball, along with cornhole, paddleboarding, and some delicious food enjoyed right by the Californian coast.
Your local, proudly independent, veterinary practice opened in Waddington in 2022. Register and book online via our website, follow us on Facebook, call us or pop in to see us. Sarah, Alice and their friendly team look forward to welcoming you and your pets!
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Find us: Lincoln Edge Vets Ltd, The Quarry, Grantham Road, Waddington, Lincs, LN5 9NT
Op CHRISTMAS
On 3 Dec 24, RAF Waddington hosted local Vets for a tea party as part of Operation Christmas.
RAF Waddington service personnel, with help from the YMCA/Airplay Youth Club, organised a Christmas tea party for veterans and service widows as part of the RAF Benevolent Fund's (RAFBF) Op CHRISTMAS initiative. The tea party took place in the Pip Beck Centre at RAF Waddington, which was beautifully adorned by the Community Support team.
Filled with twinkling lights, festive garlands, and three majestic Christmas trees, it created a magical holiday ambience.
The tea party was more than just a gathering; it was a heartfelt celebration of resilience, friendship, and shared experiences. By hosting events like these, the RAFBF and the personnel at RAF
“It was a great event, brilliantly organised and run. Thank you to the RAFBF, RAF, and all those involved". - Steven Robinson, Gainsborough Veterans Breakfast Club
Waddington reaffirm their constant commitment to the well-being of veterans and service widows.
A standout moment of the event was the lively entertainment provided by the YMCA/Airplay Youth Club.
A special thank you to M&S for providing lovely hamper donations, Asda for the
Guests also savoured a delightful array of traditional tea party treats, including freshly baked scones, an assortment of sandwiches, and a variety of buffet-style snacks alongside teas/coffee and Bucks fizz.
delicious mince pies, ESS for the donated prizes and the
His Church for the main Hamper prize.
"The Veterans had a fabulous evening, they were well hosted, enjoyed the amazing spread of food and really enjoyed the entertainment by the youth club. It was a lovely evening. They all pass on their thanks to the team for organising the event and look forward to the next one".
WO1 Shawn Bailey, Lincoln Armed Forces Veterans Club
A member of the Waddington Community Support team hands a gift bag out to a lucky guest.
The ISTAR Force Delivers Intelligence and Understanding at Exercise RESOLUTE HUNTER 25-1
The RAF’s ISTAR Force deployed nearly 100 people to Naval Air Station Fallon to support the Naval Aviation Warfare Development Centre’s Exercise Resolute Hunter.
Exercise RESOLUTE HUNTER aims to improve readiness and training for participants. To achieve this, specialist ranges and airspace both over land and sea were used; coalition partners planned, practised, and improved integration across multiple disciplines, whilst honing their skills with a focus on the FIND, FIX, TRACK, TARGET, ENGAGE, and ASSESS (F2T2EA) tasking chain as well as dynamic ‘on call’ targeting processes.
Exercise RESOLUTE HUNTER is a dedicated 3-week Battle Management, Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Fires exercise, run by the United States Navy, hosted by the Maritime Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Weapons School (MISR) at the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Centre, Fallon. The RESOLUTE HUNTER series brings together assets and personnel from the US Navy; US Air Force; Royal Air Force; Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force, into a combined and joint force totalling over 500 personnel over a three-week period in October and November.
“This
54 Squadron Instructional Partnership
54 Squadron’s ISR Warfare School routinely deploys to support the exercise with its students and instructors and to conduct the summative assessment of the ISR QWIC Course. The ISR Warfare School has maintained strong relationships with the US Navy MISR Weapon School having been present since the inaugural exercise in 2019. This enduring relationship sees ISR QWIC students being assessed by MISRs whilst ISR QWIC staff assess MISR students for their summative assessment. This year saw a total of 19 students being put through their paces in positions of MISR Package Commander, MISR Coordinator working with a wide array of collectors, process, exploit and disseminators, intelligence specialists and a range of kinetic and nonkinetic effects. These force elements become a joint and combined force from across the FIVE EYES partnership.
51 Squadron’s UK RC-135 Rivet Joint – An Exceptional Collector Returning to the exercise for the second time with a UK RC135 Rivet Joint was 51 Squadron from RAF Waddington. While the signals intelligence squadron has co-crewed,
alongside USAF personnel on an USAF RC-135, on several iterations of RESOLUTE HUNTER this was only the second time the aircrew of 51 Squadron have been able to operate a UK operating crew. Continuing to build on the excellent cocrewing interoperability of the Rivet Joint program there were USAF aircrew and maintainers/ ground engineers deployed alongside each other.
RESOLUTE HUNTER provides a variety of mission sets for the joint and combined force to execute the FIND, FIX, TRACK, TARGET, ENGAGE, and ASSESS targeting chain. These missions included Intelligence Preparation of the Environment (IPOE); Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD); Air Interdiction (AI); Strike and Joint Personnel Recovery (JPR).
“The focus of Resolute Hunter is to deliver an effective network of target data collection opportunities, paired with near-real time analysis, so that weapons specialists can generate specific intelligence on enemy targets. What makes this exercise so compelling to attend is that it focusses on intelligence and target development in a rolling campaign: this means that if something is missed, the
collection and intelligence enterprise must then reorientate to work through the problem in a different way. This challenges our people to extract as much as they can from the data, at pace” Air Commodore Nick Paton – ISTAR Force Commander.
For this RESOLUTE HUNTER, the joint and combined force initially were in support of a pre-conflict land campaign where it was difficult to discern the gems of intelligence required to discern the aggressor’s intent. Through the first six days of the exercise, the campaign quickly grew into a multi-domain regional conflict where the force had to support the newly occupied country through a range of kinetic and non-kinetic effects. The exercise then transitioned to the maritime where the aggressor country had sought to develop a maritime blockade. The ISTAR/ ISR constellation quickly reorientated and delivered tangible effects in the area around San Clemente Island. Over the 11 days of joint and combined exercising, over 500 people were directly involved over and above the USN military ships and coast guard vessels used as adversary and allied vessels.
Resolute Hunter has been an excellent exercise for the UK’s force elements as they collaborated seamlessly with the allied force. It was great to see the way in which forces including P-8A, RC-135, U-2S, E-3G, A-10s, MH-60S/Rs, the US Marine Corps, MARSOC, AFTAC and others quickly gelled together with the over 50 personnel in the Joint Intelligence Operations Centre in order to deliver world class effects against the exercise adversary.” Wing Commander Keith Bissett – Exercise Combined & Joint Task Force Commander.
Exercise RESOLUTE HUNTER ensures that MISRs, ISR QWICs, and all participants maximise training benefit from the execution across electronic spectrum and domains. The focus on the intelligence cycle, through integration and
synchronisation, to create fires and effects is unprecedented. It has ensured that operationally imperative lessons are identified, then countered so that a F2T2EA chain can be rapidly and reliably executed by a large mixed force.
WINGS TO THE PAST TAKES FLIGHT WITH TIME TEAM
On a sunny Friday in October 2024, 30 Service personnel and their families deployed to the lovely village of Norton Disney in Lincolnshire.
Invited by the amazing and internationally renowned Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group (NDHAG) they were about to embark on 3 days of archaeology. Following from the amazing discovery of the dodecahedron in 2023, the NDHAG moved their attention to understanding more about how the village had developed over time and trying to understand where the original manor house was. To help them they have worked with Time Team, formally of Channel 4 fame and now a highly successful series on YouTube. Time Team were on site to cover the 3 days, supporting test pits around the village and conducting excavations themselves to try to locate the original manor house.
The volunteers were challenged to dig 20, 1m by 1m test pits around the village digging to a depth of 1m trying to understand the villages history through the finds discovered in each 10cm soil section. Professor Carenza Lewis of the University of Lincoln, and one of the original Time Team presenters, led this part of the excavation using her vast experience of the benefits of test pit digs, both their use in widening archaeological knowledge of an area but also how this type of project can support communities to get involved in archaeology.
The volunteers soon became used to camera crews and presenters walking around and capturing their finds and activities. Some were
The feedback from the volunteers has been extremely positive, 1 family told us “Even though we did not know each other before we started every one took a turn at digging, sieving, recording and looking out for each other. I left with many more friends than when I started! A huge thank you to Wings to the Past and Lincoln Uni for their partnership enabling the contribution from military personnel and their families and especially to the Time Team who for a whole generation (possibly more) of young people have been childhood heroes and who are as wonderful to engage with 'in real life' as they are in the programme. For my son especially the memories made throughout the weekend will last a lifetime. So, Thank-You all. The Time Team episode will air on YouTube in early 2025 and we can’t wait to reveal all the exciting finds the volunteers discovered.” Another group said “Being able to be part of something so exciting and being there when finds are being uncovered for the first time is a magical experience to be a part of” and one family simple said “Fascinating, Family fact finding fun”.
able to take centre stage and hopefully will appear in the Time Team episode.
Wings to the Past uses archaeology and heritage to offer Service personnel and their families the chance to do something different, make memories, take a break from Service life, meet new people and in this case work with the local community. So far since Wings to the Past started in 2019 over 150 Service personnel and dependants have benefited from their projects. It is a Community Interested Company funded through the generosity of its partners offering spaces on their projects and by
the Programme Director self-funding the organisational costs. They have long running relationships with Bishop
Grosseteste University and the University of Lincoln. They are now planning another 5 projects for 2025.
Suzy Watts, Regular Veteran and Serving Reserve Officer and also the Wings to the Past Programme Director said “We were overwhelmed when Richard Parker from the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group offered us places on this amazing dig, we knew this was a unique opportunity for Service personnel and families and we grabbed the chance with both hands. When asked on the Sunday to extend a test pit to a 5 m by 1 m trench with only 4 hours to go I knew the Wings to the Past participants where up to the challenge, by lunchtime they had discovered significant archaeological features and the standard of their archaeological excavation was praised by all, it was a very proud moment for Wings to the Past. Our amazing friend and specialist advisor Professor Carenza Lewis was once again amazing to work with and is a corner stone of Wings to the Past”.
On 13 Nov, RAF Waddington hosted 31 liverymen from the Worshipful Company of Farmers at 31 Squadron Hangar, WOSM and the IBCC.
The Farmers Livery toured 31 Squadron, including the AC and a capability brief, as well as interacting with Station support personnel, including the Fire section and Royal Air Force Police, and a representative of the Armoury where they were able to try
out the kit and weapons Waddington uses on a dayto-day basis to keep it safe and secure.
After this, the WOSM put on a unique lunch spread featuring local delicacies such as Plum bread, stuffed chine and pork pies. The Master of the Farmers Livery, then presented Sgt Marc Horton (31 Squadron Logs) with the Farmers Livery Silver Salver Award, before some speeches from Station Commander and the Master.
Any questions?
What is it you're trying to achieve in life? What's it all about?
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Questions such as these have been asked across the centuries and although many have offered a response, that's often not the point. The intellectual genius Albert Einstein once quoted that we should, 'learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.' Wise words from such a wise man yet even he learned the value of asking the right question at the right time.
Rob Bell a Christian author also summarises the importance for us of questioning even in the context of faith; '...questions are so central to faith. A question by its very nature acknowledges that the person asking the question does not have all of the answers, they are looking outside of themselves for guidance.' We often think that those who profess to have faith in something have the questions of life sewn up, far from it!
The Alpha Course is something which has been used to help people understand some of the bigger questions of life. It allows space and time to
ask these questions through a meal, short film and some discussion. If we're honest I don’t think we necessarily face up to these questions until something major goes wrong.
"If you want a no-holds-barred, open and honest discussion, you can bring all the questions and things that annoy you about anything to do with Christianity or religion to Alpha. You ask it, listen to what has got to be said and then make a decision. If you never ask the questions, you'll never get any answers, and if you never give it a go you'll never know whether it was right or wrong, good or bad." (Alpha attendee).
One of the 'big' questions that Alpha seeks to answer is the identity of Jesus and the acclaimed author Josh McDowell was a man who set out on a journey of questions primarily to disprove this. Despite a bad experience of the Christian faith, McDowell found however that the evidence was so reliable that he ended up not only proving that he existed historically but developing a belief in Jesus himself. He sates this about the event:
'After more than 1,000 hours of studying this subject and thoroughly investigating its foundation, I was forced to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked heartless, vicious, hoaxes ever foisted upon the minds of men, or it is the most fantastic fact of history. It is either history's greatest delusion or the greatest miracle that history records.'
So another question … what does this have to do with me? Well possibly nothing at all, you may just read on and consider that this is not for you. Or however, you may feel a gentle nudge to at least ask a question and follow this up further. If this is the case then an Alpha Course is being run
in January 2025 at St Michael’s Church, Waddington which is open to all including service personnel and their families. So how about trying to get some answers to those nagging questions you have?
If you would like to know more then please contact …
WAD-ChaplaincyTeam@mod. gov.uk or parishadmin@ stmichaelschurchwaddington.org.uk
… and we’ll gladly point you in the direction of some answers!
Rev (Wg Cdr) Chris Carré RAF Waddington
Running ClubCyprus Challenge
The Running Club generally try and enter one large running event per year and last competed successfully in the Cyprus Challenge in 2018 and 2019 with some good team results.
Our entry this year was more low key and whilst the Army had several teams entering there was a dearth of entries from the RAF despite this being the 20th year of the Challenge taking place.
The Cyprus Challenge is an adventurous and challenging running event with 4 different races taking place. The event
combines a 6k time trial, an 11k mountain trail run, a multiterrain half marathon and a 10k City Run. It is open to runners of all levels and takes place in the area of Paphos and for the most part in the Akamas Nature Reserve Park, in some of Cyprus’s most scenic routes.
The Time Trial starts on Thursday afternoon in front of the pretty Coral Bay harbour
and then runs around to the front of the hotel before heading off along roads fringed with banana plantations until you reach the shipwreck. It is a flat route, but as each runner starts 10 seconds apart in a random order the skill is pace judgment.
The Mountain Run starts by the sea at the beginning of the Akamas National Park and runs immediately uphill and continues as a steady climb for 6km. The first 4km are very rocky, from then the path becomes smoother. At 6km there is a fairly steep descent for 1km before climbing again, with a short steep uphill around 9km. Approaching Pano Arodes it levels off until the steep sting in the tail 500m climb up through the village to finish in the pretty church square.
The Half Marathon was a different route this year, the start was in the town square of Neo Chorio on a very hot day and looped out of the town for
about a kilometre on tarmac before it entered the Akamas National Park. This was a very hilly course on similar rocky paths to the previous day. Gradually it built to the summit at about the 12km point where there was a steep decent for a few kilometres back on quiet tarmac roads. This returned to rocky paths where it undulated quite sharply prior to a final steep downhill and uphill section in the valley next to Neo Chorio with a short 150m sprint to the finish.
The final day starts early in front of the medieval castle in the picturesque harbour. A fairly flat 10km road race is very welcome although by now your legs have put in some serious mileage and there was strong headwind on the return leg. The route took us through Kato Paphos and the beach front hotel district before returning to finish with a sprint past the pleasure boats back at the castle.
There was a wide range of runners from different countries taking part in the Challenge and there were some seriously quick times from the lead runners. They made it all look very easy whilst the rest of us puffed our way around the event, although there are multiple age categories so you can start judging your closest competitors pretty much after the hill race. The Challenge is quite tough but enjoyable and following the Malta Marathon earlier in the year the Running Club now have a lot of recent information and experience in the planning and organising of these overseas events so if you would like to assist in 2025 just get in touch with any of the Running Club.
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