Dates: 1968 - 2007
Strike Command was formed on 30 April 1968 by the merger of Bomber Command and Fighter Command, which became No. 1 Group and No. 11 Group respectively.
Signals Command was absorbed on 1 January 1969 and Coastal Command was absorbed on 28 November 1969. Air Support Command (formerly Transport Command) was absorbed on 1 September 1972.
In 1975, the Command acquired a NATO title, Commander-in-Chief United Kingdom Air Forces - CINCUKAIR, while continuing to be manned entirely by British personnel. In mid 1987, a small group of NATO personnel joined the CINCUKAIR staff. RAF Germany was absorbed as No. 2 (Bomber) Group on 1 April 1993.
Exercise Elder Forest was the biennial air defence exercise held by Strike Command, held last for certain in 1992 but also likely to have continued to at least 1998.
The RAFs Process and Organisation Review concluded that Strike Command and Personnel and Training Command were to be co-located at a single command headquarters by 1 April 2008.
It was subsequently decided that both commands were to be located at High Wycombe. On the 1 April 2006, the existing 3 Group structure of Strike Command was condensed to 2 Groups.
On the 1 April 2007 Strike Command and Personnel and Training Command were merged into a single command - Air Command.
Structure
Headquarters Strike Command (often abbreviated to HQSTC) was located at RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.
The Command was divided into a number of Groups, which at first reflected the function of the old Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Command. Subsequent reorganisations changed things greatly and before the final reorganization, the two Groups which made up Strike Command were:
No. 1 Group RAF - the "Air Combat Group"
No. 2 Group RAF - the "Air Combat Support Group"
Forces Reunited Forum Posts involving RAF Strike Command
" Military chiefs knew that RAF Hercules planes needed a vital safety feature fitted, but failed to act until after a fatal crash, an inquest has heard. Ten men died in Iraq in 2005 when the fuel tank of their Hercules exploded. Earlier, their inquest heard about fears that the fleet was not ..."
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