No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron RAF

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No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron RAF

Active	12 January 1916
Role	Air transport
Garrison/HQ	RAF Northolt
Equipment	BAe 146, BAe 125 & Agusta A109
Motto	"Adeste Comites" (Rally round, comrades)
Battle honours	Western Front 1916-1918, Somme 1916-1918, Arras, Ypres 1917, Amiens, France and Low Countries 193-1940, Battle of Britain 1940, Home Defence 1940-1942, Dieppe, North Africa 1942-1943, Italy 1943, South East Europe 1944-1945, Gulf 1991
Insignia
Identification symbol	A hunting horn stringed

No. 32 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates from RAF Northolt, west of London, in the VIP and general air transport roles.

1 History
- 1.1 VIP transport
2 Squadron strength
3 See also
4 References

[edit] History

During World War II, No. 32 Squadron operated as a fighter squadron with Supermarine Spitfire Mark VC aircraft. Operations included a deployment to Greece, where the squadron took part in the Greek Civil War from September 1944 through February 1945.

[edit] VIP transport

Main article: Air transport of the Royal Family and executive of the United Kingdom

The King's Flight was formed for King Edward VIII in 1936 and has provided air transport for the British Royal Family and senior government ministers since.

The Metropolitan Communications Squadron was formed on 8 April 1944 by the renaming of No. 510 Squadron for VIP air transport. The Squadron moved to RAF Northholt in 1957. In February 1969 No. 32 Squadron assumed the role of the Metropolitan Communications Squadron. 32 Squadron received Andovers as well as Westland Whirlwind and Westland Wessex helicopters. No. 32 Squadron was re-equipped with four HS125 CC.1s in 1971. These would be supplemented and then replaced by two CC.2s delivered in 1973 and 6 BAe 125 CC.3s delivered in 1982 and 1983. Five CC.3s remain in service.

On 1 April 1995 the Queen's Flight was merged into No. 32 Squadron to become No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron. No. 32 Squadron's aircraft have served as transports in several recent conflicts including Operation Granby (Gulf War), Operation Veritas (Afghanistan) and Operation Telic (Iraq 2003). The merged squadron continues to be referred to in the press and by the public inaccurately as the Royal Flight or the Queen's Flight.

This ended the RAF's provision of dedicated VIP transport aircraft, the aircraft of 32 Squadron are only available to VIP passengers if not needed for military operations. This was declared officially in 1999, with the MOD stating "the principal purpose of 32 Squadron [is] to provide communications and logistical support to military operations; the Squadron's capacity should be based on military needs only; and any royal or other non-military use of.. spare capacity is secondary to its military purpose." ^[1]

Both the Queen and Tony Blair have increasingly used chartered British Airways jets, primarily for intercontinental travel. Prior to this both RAF and BOAC VC10s had performed the role. It was reported in late 2005 that following an incident in which Tony Blair was delayed by several hours because of technical difficulties with his chartered plane, plans were to be drawn up for the acquisition or leasing of a number of planes to be used as exclusive VIP transports for government ministers and the royal family. The british press nicknamed the idea "Blair Force One", in reference to the american president's official plane.

In 2004 the squadron's jets lost their distinctive red, white and blue livery due to the concern over the aircraft's vulnerability to terrorist attack. While they do carry missile countermeasures it is felt that applying a civilian scheme lowered the profile of the squadron's planes.

In May 2005 the Defence Logistics Organisation's Helicopter and Islander Combined (HIC) IPT awarded AgustaWestland a five-year contract to provide a Civil Owned Military Registered (COMR) helicopter for No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron. From 1 April 2006 AgustaWestland is providing three AgustaWestland A109s to replace the three Twin Squirrels.