RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire is a Joint Force Command Station and home to the Joint Force Intelligence Group and the National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence, which provide intelligence support to the Armed Forces deployed on operations around the globe.
Wing Commander Farley-West grew up in West Sussex and commissioned into the RAF in 2003. Following Officer and Professional training she was posted to the Air Warfare Centre and then to serve on 1(F)Squadron with the Harrier Force, throughout which time she completed several operational tours across the Middle East.
As a Squadron Leader, she held plans and Command roles within Joint Forces Command. Upon promotion to Wing Commander, between 2018 to 2020, she assumed Operations and Branch & Trade roles within 11 Group, Headquarters Air Command.
On completion of the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the UK’s Joint Services Command and Staff College, Wing Commander Farley-West assumed Command of RAF Wyton in August 2021.
The area around Wyton has been associated with aviation since 1912, a period that embraces almost the entire history of aviation.
The Airfield at Wyton first became associated with the Armed Forces in 1916, when the Royal Flying Corps began training pilots at the Station. On 1 April 1918 the Royal Air Force was formed and Wyton continued to train units for overseas operations.
The first sortie of the World War Two took off from RAF Wyton on 03 September 1939 and Wyton aircraft took part in the last Bomber Command raid on Germany in April 1945. The legendary Pathfinder Force was created on 15 August 1942 and RAF Wyton was chosen to be the Headquarters as well as one of the Flying Stations.
In August 1945 the Pathfinder Force disbanded. In 1953 the first Photographic Reconnaissance Units (PRUs) arrived; however, re-equipment soon took place with the new PR version of the Canberra. In 1971 the first Nimrod aircraft arrived. In April 1975 the last of the Victor aircraft departed. Throughout the next two decades Canberra units came and went with the final squadron, No 39 (1 PRU), leaving in November 1993.
In April 1994 Wyton ceased to be an independent unit and was merged with RAF Brampton, on 2 April 2012 RAF Wyton once again became an individual RAF Station, control of the station transferred from HQ Air Command to the newly established Joint Forces Command (JFC) and Joint Forces Intelligence Group (JFIG) continues to be based at RAF Wyton.
