Number 99 Squadron

Officer Commanding: Wg Cdr John Harris

 

Stationed at RAF Brize Norton, Number 99 Squadron flies the C-17A Globemaster in a tactial Airlift role.

The squadron was the first unit to equipped with Vickers Wellingtons just before the start of World War II. It was stationed first at Newmarket, and then Waterbeach, assigned to No. 3 Group RAF. The squadron bombed targets in Norway and Germany. In March 1942 the squadron was posted to India operating first Wellingtons and then Consolidated Liberators. The squadron moved to the Cocos Islands in July 1945, where it remained until the end of the war. On 15 November 1945 the squadron disbanded.

The Squadron was reformed in early 2002, the first of the squadron's four initial C-17s were delivered to the RAF on May 17, 2001, arriving at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire on May 23. One of the first high profile missions of the squadron was the deployment of Lynx helicopters and support equipment to Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia as part of a NATO peacekeeping force. This deployment was codenamed Operation Bessemer.

Since then the Squadron has supported military exercises "Saif Sareea II" in Oman, the War on Terror in Afghanistan, and the Invasion of Iraq (Operation Telic.) More routine tasks have gone largely unpublicised, for example the replacement of 1435 Flight's Tornado F3s in the Falkland Islands.

vRAF's 99 Squadron is the key to moving men and materials to overseas destinations in support of vRAF operations, also, they can deliver urgently needed medical Relief to Short Unprepared strips, making them a winner with the Crews and the Public Alike.