Death of an Institution
You may remember a good while back, I posted about my home unit, RAF Coltishall, being one of the victims of the latest rounds of Defence cutbacks. Well, 18 months on and the place is effectively pushing up the daisies. The last of the Jaguars departed for RAF Conningsby at the back end of March, and this was rapidly followed by the departure of roughly half the Staion personnel. 12-1500 down to about 600 in one quick easy sweep. The life was slowly beginning to drain away from the old lady. We are now down to about 200 people. People are the life-blood of any RAF Station, they are what gives the place a sense of life and urgency and fun. The camp is like a morgue now. No Jet noise drifting over from the flight line, no vapour trails in the skies above the base, no tannoy messages about the Function in the officers mess in 2 weeks time, no drunken airmen stumbling out of one of the many and varied drinking establishments on base.
It's a crying shame, it really is. With any luck, I should be posted in November, and hopefully, I'll be getting posted to one of the front-line Harrier Squadrons, No 1 Sqn or No IV(AC) Sqn. Yes, yes, I know it will mean me going back to Afghanistan, but with things being the way they are for the British troops in Helmand province, I'd like to be in a position to assist them, even if it is from the relatively safer confines of Kandahar Airfield.
I just hate seeing Coltishall the way it is. I have lived here since March 2000, and I have never been based at a unit in the throes of drawdown. I have closed units down before (RAF Swinderby and RAf West Raynham to name but two, and that was depressing enough, but I never lived at those camps (OK, I did BAsic Training at RAF Swinderby, but that was only for 6 weeks).
This truly sucks arse in the most heinous fashion.
It's a crying shame, it really is. With any luck, I should be posted in November, and hopefully, I'll be getting posted to one of the front-line Harrier Squadrons, No 1 Sqn or No IV(AC) Sqn. Yes, yes, I know it will mean me going back to Afghanistan, but with things being the way they are for the British troops in Helmand province, I'd like to be in a position to assist them, even if it is from the relatively safer confines of Kandahar Airfield.
I just hate seeing Coltishall the way it is. I have lived here since March 2000, and I have never been based at a unit in the throes of drawdown. I have closed units down before (RAF Swinderby and RAf West Raynham to name but two, and that was depressing enough, but I never lived at those camps (OK, I did BAsic Training at RAF Swinderby, but that was only for 6 weeks).
This truly sucks arse in the most heinous fashion.