Air Officer Commanding ( AOC ) is a title given in the air forces of Commonwealth (and some other) nations to an air officer who holds a command appointment which typically comprises a large, organized collection of air force assets. Thus, an air vice marshal might be the AOC 38 Group. The equivalent term for army officers is general officer commanding (GOC), from where the air force term was derived.
19-707: Royal Air Force Germany , commonly known as RAF Germany , and abbreviated RAFG , is a former command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and part of British Forces Germany (BFG). It consisted of units located in Germany , initially in what was known as West Germany as part of the British Air Forces of Occupation (BAFO) following the Second World War , and later as part of the RAF's commitment to
38-713: The Cold War , with the command also reorganising to support one aircraft type at each airbase . Laarbruch became RAFG's home to the Blackburn Buccaneer strike aircraft, operated by XV and 16 Squadrons. Bruggen received the McDonnell Douglas Phantom fighter- bomber operated by 14 , 17 , and 31 Squadrons, with Wildenrath taking the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and 3 , 4 , and 20 Squadrons. Gutersloh became home to
57-685: The RAF those air officers who command a group are styled air officer commanding, followed by the name of the group. Currently, there are five AOCs: In the IAF , Officers of the rank of Air Commodore who command Wings , Base Repair Depots, Equipment Depots and Air Bases are styled as Air Officer Commanding (AOC). Similarly, Air Vice Marshals commanding Groups (like the J&;K Group & Maritime Air Ops Group) and Advance Headquarters are styled as Air Officer Commanding (AOC). Senior Air Marshals who command
76-453: The AOC is normally a major or a lieutenant colonel . These officers exercise command authority over their cadet units and are expected to train cadets in officership and military matters, advise the cadets who hold leadership positions in the unit, and act as role models for the future officers. Although the vast majority of AOCs at the academy are, logically, United States Air Force officers,
95-736: The Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact stimulated major changes in British defence policy, and RAF Germany was no exception. The Options for Change paper announced a downsizing of the command; Wildenrath was to close and its Phantom squadrons disbanded, Gutersloh was to be transferred to the British Army and its squadrons relocated to Laarbruch, which in turn would have its three strike-attack Tornado squadrons disbanded. These proposals were quickly overtaken by events in
114-623: The Communications Flight adopted the identity of 60 Squadron which had recently disbanded in the Far East. The Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of RAF Germany at this time was Dambuster raid pilot Air Marshal Harold 'Mick' Martin . Further change came with the arrival of the SEPECAT Jaguar in 1975, with the three Bruggen squadrons all converting to the single-seat, twin-engined, strike and ground attack aircraft, and
133-713: The Gulf, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait . RAF Germany provided the bulk of the Tornado force, with XV ( Wg Cdr John Broadbent), 16 (Wg Cdr Ian Travers-Smith), and 31 (Wg Cdr Jerry Witts) providing the main elements at Muharraq , Tabuk , and Dhahran respectively, with personnel drawn from all eight RAFG Tornado squadrons. Three of those; Squadron Leaders Garry Lennox and Kevin Weeks from 16 Squadron, and Flight Lieutenant Steve Hicks from XV Squadron; were killed in action , and
152-698: The Seven Air Commands are styled as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) . The Seven appointments are : In the United States Air Force , the term "Air Officer Commanding" is used specifically to refer to the specially selected officers who command cadet squadrons and groups at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs , Colorado . In the case of a cadet squadron,
171-491: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.150 via cp1114 cp1114, Varnish XID 974392899 Upstream caches: cp1114 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:59:23 GMT Air Officer Commanding An air officer heading a particularly large or important command may be called an air officer commanding-in-chief (AOC-in-C). In
190-673: The defence of Europe during the Cold War . The commander of RAFG doubled as commander of NATO 's Second Allied Tactical Air Force (2ATAF). Its motto was 'Keepers of the Peace'. RAF Germany was established on 1 January 1959 ; 65 years ago ( 1959-01-01 ) , through the renaming of the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force . The command remained based at RAF Rheindahlen with Air Marshal Sir John Edwardes-Jones continuing as its Air Officer Commanding . Flying operations were conducted from six airfields ; four of these: Geilenkirchen , Laarbruch , Bruggen , and Wildenrath , were
209-959: The last of over one hundred aircrew lost in service with RAFG units. Despite the successful service in the Gulf, the Options for Change proposals were carried out. 92 Squadron at Wildenrath was the first to disband in July 1991, followed by 19 in January 1992, and the station itself that April. At Laarbruch, both XV and 16 Squadrons were disbanded during 1991, and II Squadron relocated to RAF Marham . 20 Squadron remained, but disbanded in July 1992, before 3, 4, and 18 Squadrons relocated from Gutersloh later that year, while 230 Squadron had departed for RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland that April. RAF Germany itself came to an end on 1 April 1993 ; 31 years ago ( 1993-04-01 ) , when it
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#1732791563737228-454: The much-delayed 'Tornado Infra-Red Reconnaissance System' (TIRRS), while the following year 3 and 4 Squadrons began replacing their first-generation Harrier GR3s with the new Harrier II . 25 Squadron disbanded that October, ending nearly twenty years of Bloodhound SAM operation in Germany, with the numberplate transferred the same day to a new Tornado F3 unit at RAF Leeming . The fall of
247-588: The new Boeing Chinook . After re-equipping, and seeing service in the Falklands War , 18 returned in 1983 with both units providing support to the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). In 1983, a new shape emerged in the skies over western Europe with the arrival of the Panavia Tornado multi-role strike-attack aircraft into RAF Germany. Entering service with XV Squadron, it was only intended to equip
266-562: The so-called 'clutch' airfields built earlier in the decade, with the other two, Jever and Gutersloh , having been occupied since the closing months of World War II . The command's stock of aircraft included the English Electric Canberra bomber, Hawker Hunter fighter-bomber, and the Supermarine Swift reconnaissance aircraft. The command's number of airfields was reduced by one in 1961, when Jever
285-534: The three Laarbruch-based units, but ultimately replaced the Jaguar across the RAFG command, which also included 20 Squadron moving once more this time to Laarbruch. 1986 saw the arrival of IX Squadron at Bruggen, as well as the end of the nuclear Quick Response Alert duty that RAFG had carried out since its formation. The Jaguar finally left RAF Germany in 1988 when II Squadron replaced theirs with Tornado's fitted with
304-532: The two Lightning squadrons , where they were joined in 1970 by the Westland Wessex helicopters of 18 Squadron , while 25 Squadron provided defence for the three clutch bases with the Bloodhound SAM . The exception to this arrangement was II Squadron , who operated their Phantoms in the aerial reconnaissance role from Laarbruch. At this time, the command gained another further squadron when
323-447: Was disbanded and redesignated as No.2 Group of Strike Command , with Air Marshal Sandy Wilson as its last AOC. 2 Group was itself subsumed into 1 Group in 1996, with the final withdrawal of forces coming in 2002 following the closures of Laarbruch and Bruggen. Note 1: Unit with nuclear strike role with 18x WE.177 tactical nuclear weapons . List of Royal Air Force commands Too Many Requests If you report this error to
342-716: Was later joined there by 20 Squadron which moved over from the Harrier. II Squadron would also receive the Jaguar, albeit remaining at Laarbruch in its reconnaissance role. In 1977, Wildenrath and Gutersloh swapped roles as 19 and 92 Squadrons converted to the Phantom, now redeployed in the air defence role, and moved to Wildenrath to take advantage of their new mounts longer range, with 3 and 4 Squadrons and their Harriers moving east to Gutersloh. 230 Squadron and their Westland Puma helicopters arrived at Gutersloh in 1980 to replace 18 Squadron, who disbanded in preparation to receive
361-526: Was returned to the West German federal authorities, followed by Geilenkirchen in 1968, and consolidating operations to four RAF stations. In between times, RAFG received a dedicated interceptor force with the arrival of 19 and 92 Squadrons from the United Kingdom with their English Electric Lightnings . From 1969, RAFG began receiving new equipment befitting its place on the frontline of
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