No. 4626 (County of Wiltshire) Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is a unit of the British

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...

, which manages, maintains and trains its personnel for operational readiness in support of RAF requirements for

Aeromedical Evacuation Aeromedical evacuation (AE) usually refers to the use of military transport aircraft to carry wounded personnel. The first recorded British ambulance flight took place in 1917 in the Sinai peninsula some 30 miles south of El Arish when a Royal ...

and Pre-Hospital Emergency Care, Primary Healthcare (PHC) (Role 1) and individual augmentees to other military healthcare capabilities, in times of conflict or crisis (under the provision of the

Reserve Forces Act 1996 {{Unreferenced, date=January 2022 The Reserve Forces Act 1996 is a piece of British legislation that provides for the maintenance and composition of the British military's Reserve Forces. Provisions of the Act to make ''"An Act to make provisi ...

Role

4626 Squadron provides additional air evacuation (patient care pathway) of military and civilian personnel from many front line locations around the world, and is the only Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron in the Auxiliary Air Force. It has recently grown into wider areas of responsibility, including Pre-Hospital Emergency Care and Primary Healthcare. The Squadron comprises Ground Handling Flights (involved in ground-based patient care) and Aeromedical Flights (qualified to fly with patients), the Aeromedical Staging Unit (ASU) and the provision of Individual Augmentees to deployable medical capabilities of the RAF Medical Services (such as Role 1 PHC). Besides its regular staff of doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, 4626 also supplies paramedics for deployment on MERT (Medical Emergency Response Team) and specialist medical personnel for CCAST (Critical Care Air Support Team).

Operational history

4626 Squadron was formed on 9 September 1983. It was initially based at

RAF Wroughton RAF Wroughton is a former Royal Air Force airfield near Wroughton, in Wiltshire, England, about south of Swindon. Ministry of Defence aviation activity ceased in 1972. The airfield now belongs to the Science Museum Group and is home to the ...

, then from 1986 at

RAF Hullavington RAF Hullavington was a Royal Air Force station located at Hullavington, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. The station opened in June 1937 and was predominantly used for various training purposes. It closed on 31 March 1992 when it was transfe ...

, before moving to

RAF Lyneham Royal Air Force Lyneham otherwise known as RAF Lyneham was a Royal Air Force station located northeast of Chippenham, Wiltshire, and southwest of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The station was the home of all the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transpor ...

in 1995. Since Lyneham's closure in December 2012 it has been based at

RAF Brize Norton Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the village of Brize Norton, and the towns of Carterton and Witney. The station ...

. The Squadron was mobilized in 1991 to support

Operation Granby Operation Granby, commonly abbreviated Op Granby, was the code name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War. 53,462 members of the British Armed Forces were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations wa ...

during the First

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, based in Saudi Arabia. Following Granby, members of the Squadron were deployed on

Operation Provide Comfort Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations initiated by the United States and other Coalition nations of the Persian Gulf War, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurdish refugees fleeing their homes in northern ...

, a humanitarian mission to aid displaced Kurds. The Squadron was later involved in operations in

the Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

. The Squadron was again fully mobilised in January 2003 to support operations in

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

, the British part of the

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

. Based in Cyprus, Kuwait, Iraq and the UK, the squadron flew more than 75 missions in three months, and evacuated more than 2,000 casualties. From May 2006 until the drawdown of UK military personnel in 2014, the squadron provided support to

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assis ...

in Afghanistan, mainly in the aeromedical role, though members of the squadron have also served in the medical facilities at

Camp Bastion Camp Shorabak (formerly Camp Bastion) is a former British Army airbase, located northwest of the city of Lashkargah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The camp was situated in a remote desert area, far from population centres. The camp was built ...

, and as combat paramedics.

References

External links

* Health in Oxfordshire Royal Air Force Medical Services Medical units and formations of the United Kingdom Squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force Military units and formations established in 1983 {{RAF-stub