ROYAL AUXILIARY AIR FORCE I 100 th ANNIVERSARY
In 1997 , a reorganisation of the Royal Air Force saw the unit re-titled as 7630 ( Volunteer Reserves ) Sqn RAuxAF . Many personnel subsequently deployed as individual augmentees in
Op Newcombe 2020 operations in Iraq ( Operation TELIC ), Afghanistan ( Operation HERRICK ), and Mali ( Op NEWCOMBE ). A diverse range of training was also supported including to the RAF Puma Force for Exercise JEBEL SAHARA in Morocco , and the NATO Partnership for Peace Exercise COSSACK EXPRESS in Ukraine .
From 2014 , there was a major expansion of RAF reserve forces . Many experienced ex- regular intelligence personnel were
recruited and served in the specialist Reserve Intelligence Staff Officer Flight ( RISOF ). In 2017 , 7630 Sqn absorbed the RISOF and was rerolled to become a specialist intelligence sqn within the RAF Intelligence Reserves Wing . Its personnel are largely recruited from exregular personnel or long serving reservists and provide a niche resource of intelligence subject matter experts and linguists . Sqn personnel generally work individually at HQs and stations across the UK and continue to deploy worldwide on a broad range of operations and exercises . Op HERRICK 2014
7644 Public Relations Squadron RAuxAF
According to A H Narracott in his book ‘ War News Had Wings ’, the earliest evidence of putting journalists into RAF uniform dates back to September 1938 when a senior civil servant by the name of Charles Pennycook Robertson , the Press and Publicity Officer at the Air Ministry , saw the need – in the light of imminent conflict with Germany – to have uniformed correspondents at the front line . Robertson thought the best way to collect news of what the Air Force was doing was to have trained journalists at the front .
Robertson wanted to get the scheme underway in peace time to help breakdown the natural opposition of commanding officers to having ‘ journalists-come-officers ’ in their midst and to give the Service Press Officers an idea of how the RAF worked . With some wrangling the idea was finally accepted . On 14 September 1939 four newly commissioned officers set out from RAF Heston for northern France to land at Le Bourget . The scheme worked well . Without it the public would have been left in ignorance of the valiant deeds performed by the RAF in those early days of the war .
After the war the RAF recognised the benefits of maintaining a small number of journalists in uniform . These PR specialists
served as part of 7802 Flight RAF Volunteer Reserve , and then as 7630 ( Intelligence ) Flight . In 1981 the PR element of 7630 Flt transferred to the newly formed 7644 Flight of the RAFVR , which , on 5 April 1997 , became No 7644 ( VR ) Public Relations Sqn , RAuxAF . In 2007 the Sqn celebrated its 25 th Anniversary by laying a slate badge in the floor of the RAF Church : St Clement Danes in London .
Despite being a relatively small sqn – with a strength of with a strength of just 44 personnel drawn from the full spectrum of media skills and roles – the Sqn is constantly tasked to provide specialist media support to the RAF and wider Defence . The Sqn has been involved in every major Operation , Exercise , and national event in recent years . This includes OP AZOTIZE - NATO Air Policing mission in Estonia , EX RED FLAG – the advanced aerial combat exercise in the USA , and the King ’ s Coronation .
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