The
Royal Air Force College
(
RAFC) is the
Royal Air
Force training and education academy which provides initial
training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to be
commissioned officers. The College
also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and is responsible
for all RAF recruiting along with officer and aircrew selection.
In recent
years it has incorporated the Air Power Studies Division of
King's College
London
.
The Royal
Air Force College is based at RAF Cranwell
near Sleaford
in Lincolnshire
, and is sometimes titled as the Royal Air
Force College Cranwell.
History
The Lord Trenchard inspecting
cadets
Cranwell was first established in 1916 as the Navy air training
centre and airships were operational there until the end of
World War I. Following the foundation of
the RAF in April 1918 and the cessation of hostilities in November
1918, the
Chief
of the Air Staff, Sir
Hugh Trenchard felt
determined to maintain the Air Force as an independent service
rather than let the Army and Royal Navy control air operations
again. The establishment of an air academy, which would provide
basic flying training, provide intellectual education and give a
sense of purpose to the future leaders of the Service was therefore
a priority. Trenchard chose Cranwell as the College's location
because, as he told his biographer:
"Marooned in the wilderness, cut off from pastimes they
could not organise for themselves, the cadets would find life
cheaper, healthier and more wholesome."
The Royal Air Force College was formed on 1 November 1919 as the
RAF (Cadet) College. On 5 February 1920 the
College was raised to
command status. It is the
oldest military air academy in the world.
On 20 June 1929, an aeroplane piloted by Flight Cadet C J Giles
crashed on landing at the College and burst into flames. A fellow
flight cadet,
William
McKechnie pulled Giles, who was incapable of moving himself,
from the burning wreckage. McKechnie was awarded the
Empire Gallantry Medal for his
actions.
In 1936 the College was reduced from command to
group status within
Training Command and the commandant
ceased to hold the title of Air Officer Commanding RAF
Cranwell.
Just before the outbreak of
World War
II, the
Air Ministry closed the
College as an initial officer training establishment. With the need
to generate aircrew in large numbers, it was redesignated the
RAF College Flying Training School and it did not
return to its former function until 1947. It was also in 1947 the
Equipment and Secretarial Branch cadets were admitted to the
College alongside the traditional flight cadets.
In 1966
the Royal Air Force Technical College at RAF Henlow
, which provided initial officer training for the
technical branches, was merged with the College at Cranwell.
Today, the Royal Air Force College Cranwell is the RAF's only
initial officer training establishment.
College Hall
Prior to the construction of the
neo-classical College Hall,
training took place in old naval huts. In the 1920s
Sir Samuel
Hoare (later
Lord Templewood)
battled for a substantial College building.
Architect's plans were drawn up in 1929 for the
present-day College.
After some disagreement between Hoare and
architect James West, the building
plans incorporated design aspects of Christopher Wren's Royal Hospital
at Chelsea
. In September 1933 the building was
completed; it was built of rustic and moulded
brick. Its frontage was .
In front of the Hall, orange
gravel paths
lead around a roughly circular grass area ("The Orange") toward the
parade ground.
The building has been used for RAF officer training since
HRH the
Prince of Wales
(later
Edward
VIII) officially opened it in October 1934.
Current training and organisation
The
College is the RAF equivalent of the Royal Navy's Britannia Royal
Naval College
and the British Army's Royal Military
Academy Sandhurst
. At present, most RAF
officer cadets complete a 32-week course
within the College's Officer and Aircrew Cadet Training Unit
(OACTU), commanded since May 2008 by Group Captain Martin Killen,
before they are commissioned. Within OACTU the officer cadets
undertake transformational leadership tuition, academic air power
studies (including ethics and strategic thinking), military skills,
essential service knowledge, drill and physical training. OACTU
also provides Special Entrant and Re-entrant (SERE) courses for
medical and dental officers, chaplains, legal officers and nursing
officers, and for officers rejoining the Service or transferring
from the sister services. There are also a small number of short
induction courses for
Warrant
Officers selected for commissioning, university cadets,
bursars and
Volunteer Reserve
officers. In addition, OACTU delivers a 2 week Reserve Officer
Initial Training course for Full Time Reservists, Royal Auxiliary
Air Force (RAuxAF), Mobile Meteorological Unit and Aviation
Officers. Reflecting the growing importance of university-level
education for its cadets, in April 2007 the College appointed air
power scholar Dr.
Joel Hayward, head of
its Air Power Studies academic department, as Dean of the Royal Air
Force College.
The Band of the Royal Air Force College
Based at RAF Cranwell, the Band of the Royal Air Force College is
one of three established Bands in the RAF. Originally formed to
support the Royal Air Force College, the band is now administered
by
RAF Music Services.
The Band
takes part in major events such as The
Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
and the Edinburgh
Tattoo as well as a busy schedule of services and charity
engagements.
Commandants
From 1920 to 1936 the College Commandant was double-hatted as the
Air Officer Commanding (AOC)
RAF Cranwell.
- 1 November 1919 Air Commodore
C A H Longcroft (5 February 1920
appointed AOC RAF Cranwell)
- 15 August 1923 Air Commodore A E
Borton
- 1 November 1926 Air
Vice-Marshal F C Halahan
- 16 December 1929 Air Vice-Marshal A
M Longmore
- 30 January 1933 Air Vice-Marshal W G S Mitchell
- 3 December 1934 Air Vice-Marshal H M Cave-Browne-Cave
- 21 December 1936 Air Vice-Marshal J E A Baldwin
- 15 August 1939 Air Commodore D Harries (the reference
raises doubt about this appointment)
- Dates unknown Air Commodore R Halley (the
reference raises significant doubt about this
appointment)
- Month unknown 1945 Air Commodore W E G Bryant
- 12 October 1946 Air Commodore R L
R Atcherley
- 1 January 1949 Air Commodore G R
Beamish
- 31 July 1950 Air Commodore L F Sinclair
- 25 August 1952 Air Commodore H Eeles
- 16 April 1956 Air Commodore T A B Parselle
- 26 August 1958 Air Commodore D F
Spotswood
- 16 April 1961 Air Commodore E D McK Nelson
- 21 August 1963 Air Commodore M D
Lyne
- 28 December 1964 Air Commodore, later Air Vice-Marshal I D N
Lawson
- 1 February 1967 Air Vice-Marshal T N
Stack
- 9 March 1970 Air Vice-Marshal F D Hughes
- 23 September 1972 Air Vice-Marshal R D Austen-Smith
- 9 July 1975 Air Vice-Marshal W E Colahan
- 28 January 1978 Air Vice-Marshal D Harcourt-Smith
- 9 January 1980 Air Vice-Marshal B Brownlow
- 31 January 1982 Air Vice-Marshal R C F Peirse
- 18 January 1985 Air Vice-Marshal E H Macey
- 17 July 1987 Air Vice-Marshal R H Wood
- 8 December 1989 Air Vice-Marshal R M Austin
- 21 February 1992 Air Vice-Marshal D
Cousins
- 7 October 1994 Air Vice-Marshal A J Stables
- 22 January 1997 Air Vice-Marshal J H Thompson
- 30 July 1998 Air Vice-Marshal T W Rimmer
- 21 July 2000 Air Vice-Marshal H G MacKay
- 27 June 2002 Air Vice-Marshal A J Smith
- Month unknown 2003 Air Commodore M C Barter
- 24 November 2005 Air Commodore R B Cunningham
- 4 April 2008 Air Commodore A D
Stevenson
Graduates
- For more information, see the category: RAF College Cranwell
graduates.
Cranwell has had many famous graduates. As there have been many
notable RAF officers who were commissioned from Cranwell, a fair
and representative list would be impractical. Therefore, only those
who are notable in other ways are listed below:
Royalty
Politicians
Other
Notes
- http://www.rafweb.org/Cmd_H1.htm
- http://www.rafweb.org/Estab1.htm
- RAF College Cranwell. OACTU. RAF Cranwell. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
- "Dr. Joel Hayward." King's College London
website. Accessed 18 June 2007.
- Band website
References
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