RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire trains, delivers and supports UK and overseas Expeditionary Air Operations.
The Station is home to a range of squadrons and lodger units with broad expertise. As it's in close proximity to training areas at Spadeadam, Otterburn and Catterick, RAF Leeming is the preferred site for deployed exercises and detachments from UK and overseas units.
Group Captain John ‘Geordie’ Lawson took command of RAF Leeming in December 2024 following a tour as Chief of Staff to Director People.
As Officer Commander Operations Wing at RAF Brize Norton, Lawson acted as the Senior Operator to the Delivery Duty Holder for C17, Voyager, C130 Hercules, A400M Atlas and all military parachuting systems. In 2022 he was appointed to the Air Staff strategy team in MOD, acting as CAS’s Liaison Officer to the Integrated Review Refresh 2023.
RAF Leeming was built in 1938 as a bomber base, with the first sortie conducted in a Whitley bomber in 1940.
It became a Basic Flying Training School in 1961 and the Central Flying School arrived in 1977.
In 1984 RAF Leeming joined Number 11 Group Strike Command and was revamped to open in 1988 as a major operational station. After 20 years of defending the UK skies RAF Leeming’s Tornado F3 days ended with the disbandment of XXV(F) Sqn in 2008.
100 Squadron, equipped with the Hawk jet, was based at RAF Leeming from 1995 until its disbandment in 2022. Its role evolved, finishing as an Aggressor Squadron, delivering operational training including support to the Typhoon Force and Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) serials.
The close link with the JTAC world was enhanced with the arrival the Joint Forward Air Control and Standardisation Unit (JFACTSU).
The 90 Signals Unit moved to RAF Leeming in 2007 and now account for around half the Station population, with around 950 personnel providing vital information and communication services to operations within the UK and around the world.
1940 RAF Leeming officially opened.
1942 The Station was handed over to the No 6 (Royal Canadian Air Force) Bomber Group.
1984 - 1988 The station underwent a £148m reconstruction based around the new F2 Air Defence Variant Tornado.
2007 90 Signals Unit arrived from RAF Brize Norton and formed the largest lodger unit on the station.
