ROYAL AUXILIARY AIR FORCE I 100 th ANNIVERSARY
These personnel would then be integrated with the existing Tactical Police and Security Sqn to form Tactical Police Wing . Recruiting for 3 TPS began in October 2002 .
The Tactical Police Wing was an independent Unit based at Royal Air Force Henlow in Bedfordshire . The Wing provided a force reserve for the Provost Marshal to deploy in support of operations , exercises , and other contingencies .
Initially the primary focus for the Sqn and Wing was Lines of Communication Policing and policing of deployed operations and exercises in UK and overseas . The Sqn also provided air transport security functionality , supporting the RAF Air Transport fleet worldwide through searches of passengers and cargo , the guarding of aircraft and cargoes , and the assessment of airfield security . In addition , it continued to provide RAF Police personnel to undertake military policing and security tasks on both deployed operating bases and in wider operational areas . Sqn personnel have also trained as Military Working Dog Handlers . The Sqn first mobilised in support of operations in 2006 with the bulk of the Sqn personnel deploying to ; Iraq , Afghanistan , and the Balkans for 6 months to create a breathing space for the regular force to undertake additional training . Since then , the Sqn has had a regular drum beat of mobilisations ranging from the Falkland Islands
Personnel training for Golden Orb in the south to Iceland and Sweden in the north in support of Defence operations . UK Resilience has been supported consistently from the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh onwards through to the covid response plus ceremonial events , including the RAF 100 , the funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II and subsequent coronation of HM King Charles III . From 2014 the Sqn has held a specified operational output : to deliver the Security Co-ordinator and the bulk of the RAF Police detachment to the Royal International Air Tattoo ( RIAT ), held in Gloucestershire annually . RIAT , the world ’ s largest military air tattoo provides an opportunity for the reservists to absorb the increased commitment and provide an operational output as part of their annual training .
In 2015 3 TPS moved to RAF Honington in Suffolk as part of a defence estate rationalisation programme . In 2020 the Sqn joined the newly formed No 1 Specialist Police Wing at RAF Honington . Renamed 1 Police & Security Wing in 2022 , it is part of the Aviation Security Force . The Sqn was re-named No 3 RAFP ( Reserves ) Sqn to better reflect its place in the force . Today the Sqn primarily supports Law Enforcement tasks with two flights and has a specialist capability flight consisting of 3 sectionsof : investigators , counterintelligence , and other specialists . These are primarily former regulars or PTVR with niche skill sets .
3PS personnel on EX-WINTER MARCH
2503 ( County of Lincoln ) Squadron RAuxAF Regt
As with other RAuxAF Sqns , 2503 ( County of Lincoln ) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regt can trace its history to 503 Sqn , Auxiliary Air Force , which formed on 5 October 1926 for bomber duties . It was equipped with Fairey fawn single-engined two-seat day bombers . Reclassified in 1929 as a night bomber sqn and given Handley Page Hyderbads followed in 1933 by its successor , the Hinaidi . Drawing a workforce from such a rural area proved difficult and in June 1936 it was standardized on the Hawker Harts and reverted to a day bomber sqn . It was disbanded in 1938 as workforce volunteers still continued to dwindle . Regular personnel and aircraft moved to Doncaster to form No . 616 Sqn .
2503 Sqn , the first of the RAuxAF Regt Sqns , was formed at RAF Scampton in 1979 to assist with the ground defence of the Station ’ s Vulcan fleet . With the demise of the Vulcan , the Sqn relocated to RAF Waddington and was employed to defend the Tornados at RAF Coningsby . It then resumed its RAF Waddington ground defence role when the AEW Sentry aircraft arrived on the Station . In 1980 , the Sqn was opened up to female recruits and by June 1980 , the Sqn had six female gunners . By 2002 , the decision to remove females from Regt Sqns was made , with the last one leaving the Sqn in 2008 .
34