It brings me great pleasure to introduce this edition of Wycombe World and indeed my first since taking over command of the Station in July. To be fortunate enough to be appointed the Station Commander of such a prestigious establishment is an honour and responsibility I am truly grateful for. It is clear that the Station has been set up for success under some very testing circumstances so I would like to formally thank my predecessor, Wing Commander Jenny Dennis, for all her hard work over the past three years.

Hello everyone and welcome to this special mini edition of the Northolt Approach, focussing on ‘Our People Everywhere’. We will be issuing something of a bumper edition at Christmas. Meanwhile, to capture some of the activity that station personnel have been up to over the last few months, I do hope you enjoy the following news from the RAF Northolt community. This edition features some of the wide variety of activity undertaken by station personnel, from visiting the local primary school to celebrate the month of the military child to adventurous skiing in the French Alps and commemorating the 80th anniversary of VE Day in Reims. The contribution of RAF Northolt personnel is also recognised within these pages, with photos from the honours and awards ceremony and a special tribute to one of RAF Northolt’s long standing staff members.

People have often said to me that RAF Valley bats above its weight, and I certainly think we do, not just in terms of the military aspect of the unit, but in what the industry partners and contractors do to support our operations – we are truly one team and our collective aim is to deliver the very best performance we can for the benefit of the RAF and wider defence.