ROYAL AUXILIARY AIR FORCE I 100 th ANNIVERSARY
7006 ( Volunteer Reserve ) Intelligence Squadron RAuxAF
Florebo quocumque ferar “ I will flourish wherever I may go ”
In the early 1980s , the Air Force Board became aware of a significant shortfall in the number of trained Intelligence personnel to fill wartime appointments in the Royal Air Force . There had been , for some time , a tendency to use personnel from other RAF branches for intelligence duties ; similarly , RAFVR personnel of other branches were filling several intelligence posts . To merge these arrangements and to provide a better structure for the Intelligence Profession , the RAF decided to form an additional reserve flight of the RAFVR specifically to undertake Intelligence duties .
7006 ( VR ) Flt therefore came into being on 1 Apr 86 at RAF High Wycombe . There had already been a 7006 Reserve Flt duties at High Wycombe in the late 1940s , early 1950s but this unit had disappeared in undertaking secretarial and administration the reconstruction of the RAFVR around that time . So , the number 7006 was given to a new flight .
The first members of the flight were drawn from No 7010 Flt ( Photographic Interpretation ) at RAF Wyton and No 7630 Flt ( Interrogation ) at Ashford .
In 2017 as part of Project HIGHGATE , the optimisation of the RAF Intelligence Reserves capability , 7006 ( VR ) Intelligence Sqn became a sub component of the 11 Gp Intelligence Reserves Wing .
The Intelligence Reserves Wing is a whole-force initiative , integrating Regular , PTVR , FTRS , VeRR , ADC and Civil Servant personnel within the Intelligence Profession . Maximising the value offered by all terms and conditions of service .
7006 ( VR ) Sqn has grown to an establishment of 117 pers and nationally recruits Part-Time Volunteer Reserves , employed for an average of two weekends a month delivering RAF Air Intelligence and MoD Defence Intelligence output .
The sqns primary customers are the Air and Space Intelligence Centre , Joint Helicopter Command , Defence Intelligence and Space Command . Main working locations are RAF Wyton , RAF High Wycombe and RAF Benson / Odiham .
The Flt changed to its present title and became a Sqn on the amalgamation of the RAuxAF and the RAFVR on 5 Apr 97 . Since its formation as a sqn there have been progressive initiatives to professionalise the RAuxAF Intelligence community .
7010 ( Volunteer Reserve ) Intelligence Squadron RAuxAF
7010 Flt Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve ( RAF VR ) was formed at RAF Nuneham Park , Oxfordshire on 1 April 1953 Serving members of the RAF VR , especially aircrew , were offered the opportunity to retrain as Photographic Interpreters ( PIs ) to serve with the Joint Air Photographic Interpretation Centre ( JAPIC ( UK )) to meet the need for an increasing number of PIs as the
Cold War intensified and the analysis of strategic imagery of the Soviet Union became a crucial requirement at JAPIC ( UK ). At its peak 7010 Flt is said to have number some 500 officers , many of whom had flown operationally in World War II . The Flt moved with the Joint School of Photographic Interpretation ( JSPI ) to RAF Brampton in 1959 , then to RAF Upwood , followed by RAF Bassingbourn and then RAF Wyton where 7010 personnel supported the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre ( JARIC ).
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