RAF Wittering swings into action with Exercise Agile Pirate bringing the RAF Support Force together

A major exercise has been taking place at RAF Wittering - a first for the RAF Support Force.

Known as ‘Agile Pirate’, the three-day exercise saw the RAF base near Stamford double as a foreign airfield, with Support Force deployed to provide essential services on the ground so that air operations can take place.

Activities for No 1 Air Mobility Wing included loading and unloading a C-17 aircraft from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, while Tactical Medical Wing set up a working medical facility.

Agile Pirate was also an opportunity for RAF Reservists to train alongside their regular counterparts.

Air Commodore Neil Grant, who the RAF Support Force, said: “We’re a high-readiness organisation, so we have to be prepared to deploy within days, and sometimes within hours. Therefore, our engineers, logistics personnel and medics need to be trained and experienced – that’s what Agile Pirate is all about.”

The next phase of Agile Pirate will be conducted on the remote Scottish island of Stornoway, where the RAF Support Force will enable the operation of Typhoon jets.

Air Cdre Grant said: “Our business is enabling the deployment of UK Air and Space Power, wherever and whenever it is needed.

“Exercises such as Agile Pirate allow us to refine our output and demonstrate that we’re ready.”

Mayor of Stamford Gloria Johnson and fellow member of the town council David Taylor attended the exercise and boarded the C-17.