The Tactical Police Squadron (TPS) is a group of around 150 regular and 50 reservist (

RAuxAF 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 ...

)

Royal Air Force Police The Royal Air Force Police (RAFP) is the service police branch of the Royal Air Force, headed by the provost marshal of the Royal Air Force. Its headquarters are at RAF Honington and it deploys throughout the world to support RAF and UK defence ...

with its headquarters at

RAF Honington Royal Air Force Honington or more simply RAF Honington is a Royal Air Force station located south of Thetford near Ixworth in Suffolk, England. Although used as a bomber station during the Second World War, RAF Honington is now the RAF Regim ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The reservists comprise

No 3 (Royal Auxiliary Air Force) Police Squadron No 3 (Royal Auxiliary Air Force) Police Squadron formed as a consequence of the assumptions made in the Strategic Defence Review, presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Defence (then the Rt. Hon. George Robertson MP) in July 1998. ...

. TPS is soon to be disbanded and broken into Tactical Police Flts, which will be integrated in to RAF Regt Field Sqns. This will remove them from any traditional Police roles.

History

Originally established in 2001 to provide support to two simultaneous

lines of communication A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communicati ...

military policing operations (one warlike, one non-warlike) it comprised 2 regular Squadrons and one Auxiliary Squadron. Since this time it has trained and been resourced to provide a function similar to that of an RMP Provost Support unit. However, in 2006/2007 a decision was made to reduce the establishment to one regular squadron and one reserve squadron ( No. 3 Squadron, TPW).

Operations

TPW's first major operational deployment was in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

2003, where No. 1 Sqn, TPW operated as a full sub-unit under command of CO 5 RMP, as part of the Joint Force Logistics component and was the first full MP sub-unit to deploy to the theatre. OC 1 Sqn was Sqn Ldr Girvan Stewart, his 2i/c was Flt Lt Gavin Outteridge and they were joined by the WgWO, WO "Tosh" Thomas, Wg QM FS Kev Huggins, FS Fred Dawson as FS Ops, Sgt Gaz Edwards RSI and Sgt Phil Rodd HQ Flt, The primary role of 1 Sqn during major conflict operations was LoCP ( Line of Communication Policing) on the military road-route network linking the air and

sea port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

s in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

to the front line. This included route reconnaissance and signing, escort of troops and supplies along the road network, traffic policing and counter-terrorist patrolling. In 2003, the entire UK joint force was moved into and out of theatre with no own forces fatalities in 1 Sqn's Area of Responsibility. Additional duties undertaken within the standard MP roles of regulation, protection and information included Air Transport Security (ATSy) duties at coalition airheads, enforcement of discipline e.g. patrolling areas out of bounds to UK forces in Kuwait, and close protection for UK Air rank officers. TPW now performs similar tasks in both Iraq and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

External links

RAF News- Beefing up the RAF police capability - News article before the establishment of the WingRAF Reserve recruiment
Military police agencies of the United Kingdom Royal Air Force wings Military police units and formations {{UK-mil-stub

History

Operations

See also

External links