For all serving and ex members of the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service

A brief history of the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service

The RAF Mountain Rescue Service (MRS) has its origins back in the Second World War.  An RAF medical officer, Flight Lieutenant George Graham, is credited with creating the first organized team at RAF Llandwrog in North Wales in 1943 for which he was awarded the MBE; he was then posted to India and helped rescue a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) navigator whose aircraft crashed during supply dropping to Wingate’s Chindits in Burma, the rescue involved Grahams 1st and only parachute jump behind enemy lines, followed by a long carryout into China.  He was awarded the DSO for his part in the rescue. More than sixty years later that same will and determination to save lives still exists. 

Gales, rain, snow storms or freezing temperatures do not stop the Mountain Rescue Teams (MRT) getting to those regions where others fear to tread, and rescuing those in trouble.

Now part of the Search and Rescue Force, the MRS will go anywhere, anytime, regardless of the weather - hence the motto 'Whensoever'. 

All RAF MRT members are volunteers. For reasons lost to history, RAF MRT team members are known as "M.R. troops" or just "troops." Traditionally, team membership is reserved for enlisted men and women; although officers may serve as team members or as Officers In Charge (OIC), this is not at all the same thing as being the team leader. That position is reserved for a senior NCO, generally a Flight Sergeant.  For some, service on a team is a primary duty - these full time members are know as permanent staff - "permies" in troop speak. For others, it is a part-time activity for which they are granted relief from other normal secondary duties, such as guard duty.

Most training is done "on the hill", the term for mountaineering training days.  ("The hill" is the term used even for very high mountains!)  Classroom training included first aid training, radio procedure and navigation theory.  Only a minority pass the three-week trial period required to join. Once accepted, new troops are considered "novices."  Novices then embark on approximately one years extensive training, learning skills required, both theory and practical.  A troop will then take a "badge test", normally on a training weekend, after the first year.  The badge test covers all aspect of hill safety, navigation, rock climbing, rescue techniques, first aid, radio procedure and area knowledge.  Once passed the troop is then considered to be trained - he / she will then become a party leader and is considered competent to take a small group of team members - normally 3 ~ 4 safely on to the hill and to take a more active role on rescues.  This allows the wearing of the mountain rescue badge on the right fore-sleeve of dress uniform, one of only two special service badges recognized for RAF enlisted men / women, the other being the badge of a qualified marksman. 

Walking, mountain navigation, high-angle rescue techniques, rock climbing, first aid and winter mountaineering are the primary training activities, which are carried out in all weathers. A minority of troops practice fell running, a traditional country sport in northern England, and excellent training.  A regular troop can expect to spend upwards of a hundred days a year on the hill, this extensive training makes the most seasoned RAFMRS members some of the fittest mountaineers in the world. In the early days of the service many troops undertook parachute training, to allow them to be dropped into remote areas as a fast reaction for search, rescue and medical support.  

Many expeditions have been mounted by RAFMRS, some serving troops and ex-troops have participated in other organizations' expeditions. Expeditions areas have included, but not limited to: - Alaska, USA Rockies, Patagonia, Greenland, The Arctic, Columbia, Borneo, Iran, Turkey, Morocco, Himalayas - MR troops have climbed Mt Everest!, European Alps, Norway, New Zealand, South Georgia and Antarctica, in fact RAFMRS have climbed all over the world!

Each year for several decades, the service has run separate summer and winter mountaineering courses. The focus is on training lead climbers and for the most up-to-date specialised rescue techniques, the newly learned techniques are then passed onto members who did not attend these specialised courses.  A special course is held when needed every few years to train and select new MR team leaders.  Any fully trained troop can apply to - most are normally "hand picked" - attend the MR Team Leaders Course.  On successful completion of this course, a troop will then be posted to become a full time Deputy Team Leader at one of the MRT's, to further learn how to run a successful team.  Eventually he / she will fully take over a MRT.

There is a Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association (RAFMRA), formed in 1993 after the 50^th anniversary celebrations of the formation of Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service.  Please click here to find out more about the RAFMRA.  Please note: - this will open a new browser window or tab - when you have finished with the RAFMRA pages just close that window or tab down and you will be back here.

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