845 NAS The R2 Tempo Puma Force Deploy To French

845 NAS THE R2 TEMPO

The Front Line is not a place for idle minded souls.

Written By: Lt Andy Duffield RN, B Flt 2IC, 845 NAS

The tempo of 845 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) over the past three years has been one of ‘prepare, deploy, reconstitute, prepare’ and repeat. But this is not a gripe – this unrelenting rhythm is savoured by all Junglies, eager to do their job in whatever environment presents itself.

Since integrating with the US Coastguard to assist in counter narcotics operations in the Caribbean in early 2020, the Squadron has had a Flight (i.e. one half of the Squadron) consistently deployed. Op FORTIS followed in 2021, a deployment which brought a unique set of challenges as the Junglies adjusted to warm, blue-water operations for seven months, before switching fire to the sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic circle in Norway in 2022. And now, for the first time in over two years, the main 845 NAS building has had both Flight’s back together at their Main Operating Base at RNAS Yeovilton down in sleepy Somerset.

The din from the offices spills out into the corridors of the aging yet beloved building; a game of ‘Cameroons’, playing for who will be making the next round of wets (tea or coffee to the unfamiliar). But not for long; the Autumn deployments are calling.

As an R2 (readiness state 2, which is 5-days’ notice to move) unit we expect to be called upon to perform a variety of different tasks. Scheduled deployments tend to focus on particular skillsets, whether that be littoral manoeuvre, intra-theatre lift, search and rescue or extreme cold weather operations.

This means that during our ‘down time’ back at RNAS Yeovilton, we look to requalify on the skills which we didn’t utilise as much on the previous deployment. This focus is known as ‘pre-deployment training’; looking to hone skills we can expect to use in the coming months. In the past four months 845 NAS has been preparing for the fast-approaching Autumn deployments which will see both Flights deploy at the same time on separate deployments, only leaving a small contingent of personnel back in Somerset.

The spring and summer months of 2022 have been spent reconstituting the Flights in all respects. The nature of the military sees a constant churn of personnel both leaving and joining the front line, and the tempo can come as an initial shock for the uninitiated. Personnel have used this time to conduct key career courses, requalify or refresh skills and drills for the frontline (marksmanship, CBRN training, underwater escape training, SERE, human factors... the list goes on!) and most importantly, see their loved ones and enjoy some down-time. For the engineers, this time has been dedicated to addressing their practises and how they can best streamline them. This took the form of ‘X-Flight’, an experimental trial period on 845 NAS which looked to utilise new tools and equipment and digitise paperwork to work more effectively and efficiently. From an aviation perspective, the Flights have completed detachments to Northern Ireland and RAF Valley, conducting a variety of different competencies with external units such as 45 Commando RM. The day-to-day tasking doesn’t stop either – from the familiar ‘trooping’ sorties with the Royal Marines from CTCRM, Lympstone, to the less familiar Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Flypasts over Buckingham Palace! Uncertainty is part of the being a front line Junglie, but what is for certain is that whatever comes next, 845 NAS are ready.