Exercise tests RAF's ability to secure the ground to project power in the air

The RAF's six Global Enablement forces have been undergoing training to test their capabilities in Exercise Auxilium Fort.

Global Enablement forces is made up of 8,000 personnel, which involves support specialists, including engineers, logisticians, force protection personnel, air security, communications and medical teams.

The exercise focused on ensuring that personnel can facilitate the rapid deployment of air power, which included testing the Global Response team.

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The personnel were tasked with securing and operating a simulated decommissioned airfield for military aircraft while demonstrating their technical and core skills essential for operational readiness.

Drawn from the RAF Global Enablement forces, the Global Response team is a deployable unit trained to support air point of departure operations.

Their role is to support air operations in delivering humanitarian aid, disaster relief and non-combatant evacuations.

During the drills, the Global Response team had to deal with scenarios that included simulated attacks, multi-vehicle accidents, attacks on their base and convoys, and maintaining operations in spartan and contested environments.

The personnel need to be able to show that they can work in environments where they might have limited backup. Therefore, the training assesses their adaptability and how they utilise the resources at hand.

The French Air and Space Force, French Service de l’Énergie Opérationelle, and Commando Parachutiste de l'Air 20 were also involved in the exercise for the first time.