Station Commander’s Foreword

Gp Capt Donal McGurk

Welcome to the first issue of Helicon for 2022. As you will see from the selection of fantastic articles in this issue, it has been a really busy end of 2021 and first quarter of 2022. People from all across RAF Odiham and Chinook Force have been called on to get stuck-in; whether that is on all sorts of exercises, operations, improvement schemes or competitions. I am constantly impressed by how much everyone does and how many things they are into.

I had the chance to sit down with Catering Flight recently, where we discussed their successes and challenges that have been highlighted in this issue of Helicon and also at the recent RAF Odiham Professional Excellence Awards. They really are an important part of the glue that holds the Station together.

Seeing how many significant activities have been taking place reminds me how so many personnel on Station are involved in such a variety of activities. There are personnel from Med Centre, Logs Sqn (including MT), GEF, SEF, AEF or the many, many others who are also so often involved.

With the ongoing crisis in Ukraine which bound to continue to impact the RAF, I foresee change and challenge likely to remain the order of business for the Chinook Force, as it has always been. The amazing people of RAF Odiham will be how we will continue to achieve all that is asked of us.

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Est.1946

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Editor’s FOREWORD

Flt Lt Kerry Rapson

Welcome to the first issue of the Helicon Magazine for 2022. It was a busy end to 2021 and we hit the ground running at the start of 2022! This issue is a small snapshot into what the Chinook Force have been up to towards the end of last year and the start of 2022.

Once again, I have enjoyed bringing together the articles for this edition, showcasing what our personnel have doing in support of the Nation, both at home and abroad. We have showcased our interoperability with the Royal Navy on a training sorties that saw the Chinook Force claim the 1000th deck landing title on HMS Prince of Wales! We do hope that you enjoy the first edition of the year, thank you to all who have contributed and please do contact the team if you have any submissions that you would like included in future editions!