The 2021 Rock Olympics, held at the home of RAF Force Protection saw teams from across the Corps compete against one another.
7 teams from across the country competed at RAF Honington to be crowned the winners of the Adrian McGuire Memorial Trophy. The event saw the teams, made up of 10 personnel plus 1 team manager.
The Competitions:
- Tug of War
- Assault Course
- Vehicle Pull
- Stretcher Race
The Teams:
- Training Wing - RAF Honington
- 1 Squadron RAF Regiment - RAF Honington
- II Squadron RAF Regiment - RAF Brize Norton
- 15 Squadron RAF Regiment - RAF Marham
- 27 Squadron RAF Regiment - RAF Honington
- 63 Squadron RAF Regiment - RAF Northolt
- Initial Force Protection Training Flight - RAF Halton
The winners:
- Stretcher Race - II Squadron - RAF Brize Norton
- Tug of War - 63 Squadron (The Queen’s Colour Squadron) - RAF Northolt
- Vehicle pull - Initial Force Protection Training Flight - RAF Halton
- Assault Course - 27 Squadron RAF Regiment - RAF Honington
- Fastest Individual on the Assault Course - Senior Aircraftman Tansley, 27 Squadron RAF Regiment - RAF Honington
The overall winners of the Rock Olympics 2021 were II Squadron from RAF Brize Norton, who were presented with the Adrian McGuire Memorial Trophy.
It is believed that one of the first Rock Olympics was held between 1976 - 1978, at RAF Gütersloh in the then West Germany. Since its inception, the Rock Olympics has had a sporting feel to it, with RAF Regiment Squadrons in Germany competing against each other for bragging rights.
The Adrian McGuire Memorial Trophy
Air Commodore Adrian McGuire 1928-2013 Former Director of the RAF Regiment.
Air Commodore Adrian McGuire MBE (RAF Regiment) was an expert in British-protected states of the Arabian Peninsula. In early 1957, when close to the Yemen border, McGuire led a group of local tribesmen to the rescue of a newly-arrived British Army platoon which had transgressed an isolated prohibited area and been effectively destroyed in a close-quarters ambush, losing its commander and many of its Non-Commissioned Officers and men.
On arrival at the remote scene, McGuire ordered his 'scratch' force to hold off the attackers while he rallied the demoralised survivors to tend the wounded and gather the dead, still under fire. McGuire’s courageous decision to entrust the tribesmen with the defence of the casualties undoubtedly saved more lives.
Upon returning to Britain, McGuire was appointed MBE for his work in Arabia and was later attached to the Foreign Office during the Anglo-Yemeni truce talks in 1962.
In 1964 he assumed command of 51 Squadron RAF Regiment, part of the RAF’s Strategic Rapid Reaction Force. McGuire’s “rapidity” was put to the test a year later, when Rhodesia declared independence and he was required to embark his 160-man unit within six hours.
