RAF Boulmer

Royal Air Force Boulmer or more simply RAF Boulmer is a Royal Air Force station near Alnwick in Northumberland, England, and is home to the Air Command and Control Force, 19 Sqn - Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) Boulmer, 20 Sqn - Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) and 144 Signals Unit (SU).

The School of Aerospace Battle Management and support staff was based there until 26 July 2019; it has since moved to RAF Shawbury. Until 30 September 2015, it was also home to A Flight, No. 202 Squadron RAF, who flew the Westland Sea King HAR.3 in the SAR (Search and Rescue) role.

History

Second World War

In 1940 a decoy airfield was set up near the village of Boulmer to divert German attacks from nearby Royal Air Force (RAF) airfields such as RAF Acklington. As the air threat to the United Kingdom receded, the decoy airfield, with its grass runways and plywood and canvas Hurricanes, was abandoned.

In March 1943 RAF Boulmer was reopened as a satellite airfield to house the advanced flights of No. 57 Operational Training Unit RAF (a Supermarine Spitfire training unit based at RAF Eshott, Boulmer's parent unit).

Part of the airfield formed the basis of a caravan site with the runway and taxiway being used as an access road to the site. The site remains and is called Seaton Park.

Cold War

By 1950, the threat of the atomic bomb had caused a serious rethink in the organisation of air defence and a plan, codenamed ROTOR, was brought in to replace many of the existing stations with new protected underground operations rooms. The site chosen for one of these new underground Ground-controlled interception (GCI) stations was close to the former RAF Boulmer which had been returned to agriculture at the end of the Second World War.

The station was to have a two-level underground operations room designated as an R3. The R3 was never intended to survive a direct hit from a nuclear weapon but was designed to withstand a near miss from Russian bombing with 2,200 lb armour-piercing high explosive bombs dropped from 35,000 feet. On completion of the R3 in September 1954 the station became fully operational.

The next major change came in 1982 when the R3 bunker was vacated and work begun to upgrade it to an R3A. During this period the CRC was relocated to an above ground facility while the work was carried out.

In 2002, the Station began a major refurbishment of the underground bunker and installation of new equipment as part of the UKADGE Capability Maintenance Programme (UCMP). Valued at £60 million, the first phase of the programme was declared operational at RAF Boulmer on 16 August 2004.

'A' Flight was one of the three operational flights of No. 202 Squadron RAF and was based at RAF Boulmer, the Sea King HAR.3 helicopter was used, 'A' Flight provided round-the-clock search and rescue cover for a large area, stretching from Fife in the north to Hartlepool in the south and encompassing the Lake District in the west.

On 30 September 2015 'A' Flight of No. 202 Squadron departed RAF Boulmer and the provision of SAR from RAF Boulmer ceased. SAR is now carried out by HM Coastguard through a contract with Bristow Helicopters.

The RAF School of Aerospace Battle Management (SABM), formerly the School of Fighter Control (SFC), was located at RAF Boulmer from 1990 to 2019. The school became part of the Defence College of Air and Space Operations on its creation in April 2016. The SABM played a central part in delivering the training required for Weapons Controllers and Identification Officers of the Air Operations Branch and airmen and airwomen of the Air and Space Operations Specialists (Aerospace Systems) Trade Group. The school relocated to RAF Shawbury in Shropshire in August 2019.

In 2021, Boulmer's Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) was allocated the No. 19 Squadron number plate.

Based units

The following notable flying and non-flying units are based at RAF Boulmer.

Royal Air Force

No. 2 Group

Air Command and Control (Air C2) Force
No. 19 Squadron – Control and Reporting Centre
No. 20 Squadron – ASACS Operational Conversion Unit
No.144 Signals Unit – ASACS Engineering Unit

Operations

RAF Boulmer's mission statement is to 'generate and sustain an operationally agile air command and control capability.'

Air Command and Control (Air C2) Force

Homeland defence of the UK remains the cornerstone of the ASACS Force Command's operational output. However, the ASACS Force Command also has a wider responsibility in support of deployed operations worldwide. With the stand up of the ASACS Force Command Headquarters at RAF Boulmer in January 2006, the Station Commander also has the operational role of ASACS Force Commander responsible for the generation, sustainment and operational output of the ASACS organisation. According to The Daily Telegraph, there were 187 interceptions between 2005 and 2016.

The Force Elements under the control of the Air C2 Force Commander are:

19 Squadron – RAF Boulmer
20 Squadron – RAF Boulmer
144 Signals Unit – RAF Boulmer
Remote Radar Head (RRH) Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides
RRH Saxa Vord in Shetland
RRH Buchan in Aberdeenshire
RRH Brizlee Wood in Northumberland
RRH Neatishead in Norfolk
RRH Portreath in Cornwall
RRH Staxton Wold in North Yorkshire

Control and Reporting Centre

The Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) at RAF Boulmer, named Hotspur, is tasked with compiling a Recognised Air Picture within NATO Air Policing Area 1, and providing tactical control of the Quick Reaction Alert Force.

Resource Management Hub

The ASACS Force Resource Management Hub is based at RAF Boulmer. It currently employs 14 Civilian personnel, 12 located at RAF Boulmer and 2 at RAF Scampton. Its role is to provide specialist financial support & guidance to the ASACS Force Command whilst ensuring value for money and compliance with RAF Air Command's Corporate Governance policies.

Support Wing

Support Wing has approximately 100 service and civil servant personnel, who along with a large number of contractors support operations. The wing comprises three squadrons: Force Development Squadron which is responsible for all the key elements necessary to deliver Force Development Training, including the Training and Development Flight, Physical Education Section, Regiment Section and the Learning Centre. Personnel Management Squadron which includes Personnel Services Flight, the Service Community Support Officer, HIVE, General Duties Flight and the Medical and Dental Centres. Management Support Squadron which comprises Catering, Retail and Leisure, Estates and Facilities Management, Media and Communications and the Station i-Hub and Central Registry.

ASACS Engineering and Logistics Squadron

Elements of the ASACS Engineering and Logistics Squadron, which come under the control of the ASACS Force Commander provide engineering support to the base.

Other facilities

RAF Boulmer also has a shooting range that is often used by Air Cadets of Durham / Northumberland Wing, ATC using the L98A2 Cadet GP Rifle. The station is the location of a Met Office automatic weather reporting station, used in the extended Shipping Forecast broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

List of station commanders

14 December 1959, Group Captain Cyril Stanley John West DFC (29 January 1918 - 14 March 1977), he had a road accident in March 1962, which killed a doctor.

thumb|right|Peter Malam Brothers, third from right

c.1963, Group Captain Peter Malam Brothers DFC (1917-2008), former Battle of Britain pilot with 257 Squadron, and head of 57 Squadron at RAF Waddington, flying the Avro Lincoln
8 October 1965, Group Captain John R Gibbons DFC, aged 42, he attended Birkenhead School, he flew in the war with 103 Squadron
19 September 1966, Group Captain Eric Batchelar, a former wartime fighter pilot with 17 and 135 Squadron
10 February 1969, Wing Commander I Boyd,
2 August 1974, Group Captain James Kenneth Rogers (20 January 1924 * 18 April 2006), a navigator, from Wrexham, who joined the RAF, after a navigation course in Canada, and flew nightfighter Mosquito aircraft with 169 Squadron at RAF Little Snoring in Norfolk, awarded the OBE in the 1967 Birthday Honours
c.1976, Group Captain Peter Graham Botterill, from 1962-64 as Sqn Ldr, he commanded the 74 Squadron, Tiger Squadron, an aerobatic squadron of Lightning aircraft at RAF Leuchars
17 November 1978, Group Captain (John) Barrie Blakeley
6 February 1981, Group Captain Peter Gordon Naz, he attended Welwyn Garden City Grammar School, where he lived on Beechfield Road,
28 January 1983, Group Captain Chris William Bruce,
11 January 1985, Group Captain John H W Davis
March 1987, Group Captain Richard Cloke
March 1989 Group Captain Simon Bostock, from Tixall in Staffordshire
March 1991, Group Captain Edward R Ward
1 March 1993, Group Captain Tim C Willbond
4 August 1995, Group Captain Mike J Good
December 1997, Group Captain Martyn Bettel, attended Harrogate Grammar School from 1963-66
February 2000, Group Captain Brian Rogers
May 2002, Group Captain Nick Gordon
September 2004, Group Captain Malcolm Crayford

17 November 2006, Group Captain Jayne Millington, later Air Commodore, died of cancer aged 55 in May 2017
6 July 2012, Group Captain P W Atkinson
July 2016, Group Captain R G Jacob