It was formed on 31 August 1973 by the renaming of RAF Maintenance Command,[3] with No. 90 (Signals) Group being added to it. Its responsibilities included all logistical and maintenance support requirements of the RAF. Among its first stations assigned may have been RAF Gan, transferred from Far East Air Force. It was renamed as RAF Support Command, and its role further increased, on 13 June 1977 when it absorbed Training Command, making it additionally responsible for all RAF ground and aircrew training.[4] In 1982, Support Command had an inventory of 500 aircraft and 49,000 personnel, which included 14,000 civilians and 8,000 trainees.[4]
In the 1980s the bunker at RAF Holmpton was converted to form a new Emergency War Headquarters for RAF Support Command.[7] In the year before it was disbanded (1993), Support Command had 18,144 uniformed personnel under its structure, spread across 40 locations.[8] In October 1985, the HQ building of Support Command at RAF Brampton was destroyed by fire.[9] Staff had to move into temporary accommodation until a new HQ building was built, with the final cost coming in at around £44 million.[10] The new HQ was opened on 7 June 1988 by the Duke of Gloucester.[11]
^Taylor, John W R (October 1984). "How good is the RAF". Air Force Magazine. Vol. 67, no. 10. Arlington: Air Force Association. p. 69. ISSN0730-6784. OCLC907717893.
Jackson, Brendan. "Logistic support in the Royal Air Force." The RUSI Journal 137, no. 6 (1992): 38–43.
Terry Ford GEng MRAeS, (1987) "Royal Air Force Engineering", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 59 Issue: 11, pp. 11–13, https://doi.org/10.1108/. An opportunity to become acquainted with the engineering expertise available at RAF Stations and to study the degree of involvement in design and manufacture occurred recently when visiting Abingdon and Marham.
United Kingdom
Royal Air Force
