Hawk pilots at RAF Leeming brew up their own beverage-based sleeve emblem
Personnel at 11 Squadron Qatari Emiri Air Force – a joint Qatar-UK training squadron based at RAF Leeming – are wearing what could possibly be the coolest military badge in the world.
Spending the summer flying Hawk T2s out of the North Yorkshire base, trainee fighter pilots wear the badge on their right sleeves of their flying suits.
The squadron is made up of personnel from both the Qatari Emiri Air Force (QEAF) and Royal Air Force, who having already learnt to fly are converting their skills to operate as fighter pilots.
The design of the badge takes inspiration from the famous Yorkshire Tea brand, in homage to Leeming's location in England's largest county.
It was designed by the trainee pilots themselves, a tradition linked to the RAF which sees would-be pilots on flying courses come up with a unique badge marking their time as a student.
Talking to Forces News, Wing Commander Mark Lawson, Officer Commanding 11 Sqn, QEAF, explained that his unit "trains the next generation of Qatar and UK frontline fighter pilots".
He added: "The students follow a syllabus and that will take them all the way through from converting from the Hawk 167 [the export version for the QEAF] on to then training to use an aeroplane as a weapon system."
Discussing the badge, Wg Cdr Lawson added: "It's a tradition right back to when I was a student, which is a long time ago now.
"But each course designs their own course badge to give their stamp on their course because they will make friends for the rest of their career from it."
One of the students, Flight Lieutenant Jordan Capehorn, said: "Course badges are a really important element of providing each course with its own identity.
"We wanted to draw on Leeming's fantastic location to highlight our time in Yorkshire."
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