33 Squadron recently deployed to Orange Air Force Base, France, to support the French Armée de l’Air Rotary Wing Mission Commanders’ Course. The course is designed to qualify French helicopter pilots as Mission Commanders and, as a valued NATO partner, the Puma Force were invited to support.
This unique opportunity enabled our personnel to work closely with their French counterparts. It provided valuable training opportunities for complex rotary wing missions, practising a broad range of skills in a multinational environment.
The course included scenarios such as the aftermath of a security incident. With its ability to operate in urban environments and re-role from troop movements to casualty evacuation, the medium support helicopter provided a range of capabilities to the exercise.
Other training missions included VIP extraction, enemy threat suppression and convoy overwatch in support of French security forces. Together they demonstrated the ability of the Joint Helicopter Command to provide extremely high readiness helicopter support to taskings in the UK and overseas, alongside key NATO partners.
