Air Support Command of the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
was formed on 1 August 1967 by the redesignation of
Transport Command
RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967.
...
. Its change of name reflected the change of emphasis of the Command from solely transporting materials and manpower around the world to providing general support to RAF operations around the world.
The result of this broader role meant that Air Support Command, unlike its predecessor
Transport Command
RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967.
...
, possessed strike aircraft such as
Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...
s. With the contraction of the RAF, it only lasted a short time as a command, and it was absorbed into
Strike Command on 1 September 1972 forming
No. 38 Group and
No. 46 Group within Strike Command. The former was designated as a tactical support and the latter as a strategic support group.
Commanders in Chief
Commanders-in-Chief included:
Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - RAF Home Commands formed between 1958 - 2002
accessed February 2022.
*1 August 1967 - Air Marshal Sir Thomas Prickett
Air Chief Marshal Sir Thomas Öther Prickett, (31 July 1913 – 23 January 2010) was a bomber pilot in the Second World War and a senior Royal Air Force commander in the 1950s and 1960s. He was chief of staff to the air commander, Air Marshal De ...
*1 July 1968 - Air Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
*1 October 1970 - Air Marshal Sir Harry Burton
See also
* List of Royal Air Force commands
This is a list of Royal Air Force commands, both past and present. Although the concept of a command dates back to the foundation of the Royal Air Force, the term command (as the name of a formation) was first used in purely RAF-context in 1936 w ...
References
, -
Air Support Command
Transport units and formations of the Royal Air Force
Military units and formations established in 1967
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