Wing Commander Colin Green, an Engineer Officer from RAF Wittering has received a special commendation for his outstanding contributions to Exercise STARTASSESS and NATO CAPEVAL 20.
Image By: AS1 Maryanne Williams
Exercise STARTASSESS is a rehearsal for the NATO Capability Evaluation (CAPEVAL). CAPEVAL is a serious business; a major military evaluation in which the Royal Air Force must demonstrate that it is ready for NATO operations. In March 2020 over 600 men and women from 135 Expeditionary Air Wing at RAF Leeming undertook the NATO led evaluation. Squadron Leader Green, as he was then, was the Deputy Logistics Commander.
Image By: AS1 Iain Curlett
Wing Commander Green said: “I volunteered to be one of the logistics commanders, and it was pretty much my responsibility to pull together all of the logistics efforts in terms of our personnel and capabilities to ensure that we had the right people, skills and equipment to run CAPEVAL.”
Image By: AS1 Blake Carruthers
RAF logistics personnel take care of the movement and operation of vehicles, people and cargo, and they are responsible for the supply, storage and distribution of RAF equipment across the globe. RAF engineering has three disciplines; aviation, support and cyber/comms - all three work together to deliver equipment ready for operations.
Although seemingly straightforward, the CAPEVAL task was extraordinarily complex and demanding. Squadron Leader Green concentrated the efforts of over 300 personnel into a professional and unified organisation, orchestrating his team superbly to deliver reliable engineering and logistics effect to support the eight Typhoon jets that deployed for the exercise.
Image By: AS1 Iain Curlett
Colin Green’s military experience is a matter of record. He joined the RAF in 1990 at the age of eighteen and was sponsored through an engineering degree at Manchester Metropolitan University. It was the beginning of a long and varied career, which took him across the world and led him to work on some of the RAF’s most famous aircraft.
Wing Commander Andy Valentine was the Senior Logistics Commander for CAPEVAL. He said: “CAPEVAL was a demanding test of the RAF’s warfighting capabilities, both in the air and on the ground. Colin was instrumental in the planning and delivery of the necessary logistics capability to support these complex and challenging scenarios.”
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CAPEVAL is all-consuming for everyone involved. Every aspect of the RAF’s warfighting ability was marked and assessed by over one hundred NATO evaluators during a series of highly demanding and realistic conflict scenarios.
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Wing Commander Valentine concluded: “The Royal Air Force passed CAPEVAL, and every planned aircraft sortie took place as arranged and was completed successfully. Colin was the lynchpin of the Logistics Pillar; his outstanding commitment, superb leadership and sheer hard work were at the heart of the RAF’s CAPEVAL success.”
