RAF Support Command
Support Command was a command of the Royal Air Force.
| RAF Support Command | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1973-1994 |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Role | Logistical and maintenance support |
| Headquarters | RAF Brampton[1] |
| Motto(s) | Ut Aquilae Volent (That Eagles May Fly)[2] |
It was formed on 31 August 1973 by the renaming of RAF Maintenance Command,[3] with No. 90 (Signals) Group being added to it. Its responsibilities included all logistical and maintenance support requirements of the RAF. Among its first stations assigned may have been RAF Gan, transferred from Far East Air Force. It was renamed as RAF Support Command, and its role further increased, on 13 June 1977 when it absorbed Training Command, making it additionally responsible for all RAF ground and aircrew training.[4]
In the 1980s the bunker at RAF Holmpton was converted to form a new Emergency War Headquarters for RAF Support Command.
In 1994 the Command was split up, with many of its functions merging with those of the RAF Personnel Management Centre to form RAF Personnel and Training Command, and others being hived off into RAF Logistics Command.[3]
Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief
The following officers have held the appointment of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Support Command:[3]
- 31 Aug 1973 - Air Marshal Sir Reginald Harland
- 13 Jun 1977 - Air Marshal Sir Rex Roe
- 30 Aug 1978 - Air Marshal Sir Keith Williamson
- 3 May 1980 - Air Marshal Sir John Gingell
- 27 Apr 1981 - Air Marshal Sir Michael Beavis[4]
- 15 Feb 1984 - Air Marshal Sir David Harcourt-Smith
- 2 Jan 1986 - Air Marshal Sir John Sutton
- 5 Apr 1989 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon
- 1991 - Air Chief Marshal Sir John Thomson
- 5 Oct 1992 - Air Chief Marshal Sir John Willis
References
- Royal Air Force, History of RAF Brampton, accessed December 2013.
- Mildenhall example
- Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - RAF Home Commands formed between 1958 - 2002 Archived 5 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- Ansell, Keith (September 1982). "Royal Air Force Support Command". Armed Forces. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 293. ISSN 0142-4696.
Further reading
- Jackson, Brendan. "Logistic support in the Royal Air Force." The RUSI Journal 137, no. 6 (1992): 38–43.
- Terry Ford GEng MRAeS, (1987) "Royal Air Force Engineering", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 59 Issue: 11, pp. 11–13, https://doi.org/10.1108/. An opportunity to become acquainted with the engineering expertise available at RAF Stations and to study the degree of involvement in design and manufacture occurred recently when visiting Abingdon and Marham.
| Preceded by Maintenance Command |
Support Command 1973–1994 |
Succeeded by Personnel and Training Command |
| Preceded by Training Command Absorbed on 13 June 1977 |
Succeeded by Logistics Command |