On Saturday 5 October Reservists from four Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) squadrons paraded before Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Ranald Munro, Commandant General of the RAuxAF, in a ceremony at the Tower of London, during which each squadron was honoured with the presentation of a Standard.
It is unprecedented for four RAF units to receive Standards in a single ceremony, and Tower Green proved to be an ideal setting for the occasion, reflecting the solemnity and importance of such an event in the RAuxAF’s centenary year.
Standards were presented to 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, 504 (City of Nottingham) Squadron, 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron and 607 (County of Durham) Squadron. The ceremony was led by musicians from the Central Band of the RAF and the RAF Cranwell-based Band of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
One of two RAuxAF units based in the Lowlands of Scotland, 603 Squadron is a Force Protection Squadron manned by Reservists serving in the RAF Police and RAF Regiment. It is part of No 5 RAF Force Protection (FP) Wing, which lies within the RAF’s Combat and Readiness Force.
The Squadron trains Reservists so that they can serve alongside their Regular counterparts in the defence of RAF assets both in the UK and overseas. For example, one RAF Police Reservist from 603 is currently serving in the Falkland Islands as a dog handler, while a RAF Regiment Reservist is serving alongside colleagues from the Regular RAF Regiment on security duties in Cyprus.
Standards are awarded to a flying squadron or RAF Regiment squadron that has achieved 25 years of service, and are the equivalent of Regimental Colours in the British Army. 603 Squadron was reformed in 1999 following its disbandment in 1957 and has just completed 25 years’ service providing Force Protection specialists for the RAF. In that time, its members have served on operations in Iraq (Op TELIC) and Afghanistan (Op HERRICK), during Op RESCRIPT (the military contribution to the Government’s response to the COVID pandemic) and on other operations in the Middle East, Cyprus, Falkland Islands, Romania, Estonia, Iceland and the UK.
RAF Reservists can join between the ages of 18 and 54 (or older if transferring from Regular service) and are expected to undertake 27 days’ training or other service per year. This takes the form of two weeks (15 days) of continuous service, plus another 12 days, normally at weekends, of ‘non-continuous’ training (single days or weekends). Each day of service is paid and Reservists receive excellent training and equipment.
Speaking in a GB News interview about the Standard Presentation Ceremony, Air Vice Marshal Munro commented: ‘The consecration of a new Standard is a very important event within the Royal Air Force. These Standards encapsulate the spirit of the Squadron, and the fact that we have never had four in one ceremony and have never paraded at the Tower of London before made it all the more special.’
