RAF Shawbury

The Squadron was first formed as an Army Co-operation Sqn on 31 July 1943 at Old Sarum airfield flying the Auster AOP 3. The Sqn has since disbanded and reformed 3 times most recently becoming an integral part of DHFS on 01 April 1997.

The Sqn Motto ‘E Coelis Auxilum’ means ‘Assistance form the Skies’ which originates from its role in WW2.

670 Squadron first formed as an RAF Glider Squadron in British India in Dec 1944. It was formed for South Eastern Asia Command during the Second World War. It was disbanded in Jul 1946. The Squadron reformed under the Army Air Corps (AAC) in 1989 at Middle Wallop as part of 7 Regiment AAC responsible for the Operational Training Phase (OTP) of the Army Pilots Course.

In Apr 2018, 670 Squadron was subsumed by the newly reformed 9 Regiment AAC to go on delivering flying training for the Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) later to become 1 Flying Training School (1FTS) at RAF Shawbury under the new UK Military Flying Training System (UK MFTS).

The Squadron’s Motto, ‘In Silence We Strike’.

No.1 Flying Training School (1 FTS) is the oldest flying training school in the world. Since forming in 1919, the school has been disbanded and reformed 6 times in its history. Most recently, the school reformed on 28 Feb 2020 at RAF Shawbury, rebadging the Defence Helicopter Flying School. 1 FTS delivers the Rotary Element of the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS), providing helicopter training for Pilots and Rearcrew from the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and some overseas countries. Basic and Advanced training is delivered from RAF Shawbury with the maritime and mountain flying element of the advanced course delivered from RAF Valley. Since 1 April 2018, the Rotary Wing element of the UKMFTS has been delivered via a contract with Ascent Flying Training, who sub-contract to Airbus Helicopters. Training is delivered on a modern fleet of Juno (H135) and Jupiter (H145) helicopters. This is supported by a state-of-the-art infrastructure, including the Duke of Cambridge Building which houses Flying Training Devices and the Ground School where the trainees learn many of their skills before getting airborne.  

CFS(H) Squadron trains the next generation of Qualified Helicopter Instructors (QHI) and Qualified Helicopter Crewman Instructors (QHCI) from the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force, and some overseas countries. 

CFS(H) Squadron runs 5 courses a year with approximately 12 pilots and 2 crewmen on each course. The pilots consist mostly of an even mixture of RAF, Royal Navy, Army and foreign Service Pilots.

Unlike CFS fixed-wing squadrons, where instructors are taught on the aircraft on which they will eventually instruct, CFS(H) graduates are as likely to find themselves teaching basic students as they are teaching advanced exercises on a frontline operational squadron.

The Defence College of Air and Space Operations (DCASO) is a worldwide centre of excellence on leading-edge battlespace management training and education. The college delivers all Phase 2 training for the 5 elements of the Air Operations Branch which includes Air Traffic Controllers, Weapons controllers, Identification Officers, Flight Operations personnel and Air and Space Operations Specialists. In addition, it delivers pre-deployment training to those about to deploy on operations as well as training selected personnel as instructors.

The college formed on 1 Jan 2019, bringing together the School of Aerospace Battle Management (SABM) and the School of Air Operations Control (SAOC). Following the relocation of SABM from RAF Boulmer in Summer 2019, the School now operates alongside the SAOC, with trainers and trainees working collaboratively.

The Battlespace Management Standards and Evaluation Team (BM STANEVAL) is established to implement the Battlespace Management Assurance System (BMAS) throughout the entire Space and Battlespace Management (BM) Force on behalf of the Space and BM Force Commander. This brings all legacy branches/trades and specialisations under a single BM assurance umbrella following BM transition to the Air Operations Branch and Trade. The primary task of the BM STANEVAL is to offer second party assurance (2PA) for all BM trained personnel and the team has a wide remit to inspect, examine, endorse and standardise across the whole spectrum of BM tasks.