St.Mawgan /Newquay new lease of life!

[headset 57]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/8352057.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Troops to train at old RAF base

RAF St Mawgan near Newquay is to become a training centre of excellence for British soldiers, the head of operations at the base has said.

Base Commander Wing Cdr Paul Loader said it would offer a wide range of services including pre-deployment front-line training.

RAF St Mawgan was mothballed earlier this year when all flying operations were moved to other UK bases.

But Wing Cdr Loader confirmed the base had now been given "permanent status".

"It's been a very rough time, I think it's fair to say now we're at the end of any doubt in the future of the camp," he said.

Natural environment

Squadrons have been leaving RAF St Mawgan over the last five years. Its main purpose was training helicopter search and rescue crews.

The SAR squadron was moved to new facilities at RAF Valley in Wales.

But Wing Cdr Paul Loader confirmed the base would not close: "We've got permanent status now and we're in the stages of evolving that."

He added that RAF St Mawgan would probably see an increase in the number of people attending training courses.

Wing Cdr Loader said Cornwall was the perfect place to prepare troops for the front line.

He said: "We do have some fantastic natural environment to utilise, we've got the moors, we've got the coast and actually on the base here we do have some significant training areas."

[RichC]

Great news.
Has the Combat Survival School relocated or is it still at St Mawgan?

Also, when i was down at St Ives a few C130s and Chinooks were still using it in the summer for SF ops as they used to do but the main SF exercise (Chameleon) has moved to Yorkshire.

[Sheff]

Odd sort of story isn't it? Doesn't specify what units, what training or why.

I'd be inclined to think that it's a half-baked story for local consumption. You would think that there's virtually no chance of the MoD hanging-on to St.Mawgan for more than another year or so. I mean, why would they? Oh well, either way it ain't gonna bring back the Nimrods and Canberras *sob sniff*

[HighlandSniper]

It does sound a bit odd - what facilities are there for training apart from accommodation? A typical RAF station is just that, the facilities which support a flying station - how far is it from the nearest military training area?

[TonyO]

Front line troops is a little white lie, think North Africa and you'll have your answer...

[HighlandSniper]

Ah - the Augusta-Westland North Africans

[TonyO]

No, it's not a golf course...

[RichC]

The Algerian training programme is probably seperate to what the report is talking about as they are utilising Culdrose as well and i heard the only reason they are at SMG is because Culdrose has no room for them?

HighlandSniper...
St Mawgan was home to the Combat Survival Training School (where all RAF pilots have to go through) due to the proximity to some areas which are very harsh in environment.
Bodmin Moor and the Davidstow Airfield training area (Ex Chameleon with SAS/SBS used to train here often with Halo/Haho jumps and it has a LZ and DZ nearby called Old Park Barn)
Dartmoor which is a short helcopter flight is where the Combat Survivial School used to operate with Chinooks etc and this is of course a dedicated Artillery Range and Training Area and has one of the most hostile environments to train in within the UK and is used by the RM's and Army everyday (EGD-011) and its a huge area used also for FAC exercises and helicopter exercises.
The areas off the coast are used by Special Forces for insertion training on the Penhale Army Camp training estate near Newquay with the highest sand dunes in Europe at over 200ft high and live firing ranges nearby on the estate.
Other beach areas are used for insertion by ship and landing craft nearby too including RAF Portreath radar station (CRP).
St Mawgan itself has extensive training areas on base for the old Rockapes training programme....

It was home to the primary Special Forces training exercises for years up until it closed recently.... and its ideal for any type of training. Hence why they used to use SMG for RAF austere airfield exercises and NBC attacks etc.

[Sheff]

Oh well, personally I'd give it another year until the Defence Review comes out. Somehow, the idea of maintaining a whole station long-term to exclusively support activities which could be accommodated elsewhere just doesn't sound plausible, does it?

[RichC]

I reckon it's not supporting a whole base.... they will only be using the Annex (SW/Western side) where the exercises take place and all the ex aircraft park....
That way, the military side can be used without affecting the civil side (apart from using the runway which isn't exactly busy anyway).

The RAF are using it as it is now for Ex Ops... so why not just use the annex area.

[Sheff]

The real estate that might get used is irrelevant really (there is no "side" now of course - the airfield is abandoned to the civvies), it's the cost of maintaining an RAF station (admin, technical, domestic, etc) which just looks a bit unlikely, if it is to be just a support base only for exercises. It doesn't have a look of "long term" about it. I think the story sounds like a case of hope rather than expectation!