Farnborough Branch Lecture

Contact for further information: Dr Mike Philpot – [email protected]

Tuesday, 9th October 2018 at 7.30pm BAE Systems Park Centre, Farnborough Chinook operations in Afghanistan Sqn Ldr Alex Duncan DFC AFC (ex RAF)

Based at RAF Odiham and also at RAF Benson, the Chinook Force first deployed in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks to support operations to defeat the Taliban and to support local forces in order to regain control. After supporting Operation Telic in Iraq up until 2004/05, the Chinook Force returned to Afghanistan in 2005 and was the one of the few units to be permanently deployed on Operation Herrick up until 2014. Sqn Ldr (Ret’d) ‘Frenchie’ Duncan DFC AFC will detail the performance of the aircraft, the training of its crews, and the tempo of operations, using examples of missions carried out during the deployed period. He will also go into the details of the MERT (Medical Evacuation and Rescue Team) with all its working parts, where the British Forces truly developed the concept of bringing the hospital to the casualty, often in the middle of a firefight. The lecture will highlight the difficult conditions crews faced in Afghanistan and how training, teamwork as well as squadron cohesion allowed the Chinook Force to carry out its mission by day and by night, 24/7, for almost 10 years against a very well trained and tenacious enemy. ------Alex “Frenchie” Duncan joined the RAF in 2000 after studying Aerospace Engineering at Manchester University, and working for a brief period as a Concorde Powerplant Engineer with British Airways. He completed flying training on the Squirrel and Griffin helicopters at the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury before joining the Chinook Force at RAF Odiham and completing an Operational Conversion course on 18 Sqn. Two operational tours on 18 Sqn and 27 Sqn followed, including active service in Afghanistan. On return home, he became a Qualified Helicopter Instructor and then completed two further operational tours, before being promoted to . After this, he trained as a Qualified Flying Instructor on the Grob Tutor and took Command of the Oxford University Air Sqn at RAF Benson. He left the RAF in Feb 2018 and joined Thomas Cook Airlines as a pilot, where he is now a Senior First Officer on the A321. He has accumulated more than 4000 flight hours, of which 1000 were on Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was awarded the DFC in 2008 and the AFC in 2010. In 2011, he published a collection of some of his colleagues’ missions as well as many of his own in a book entitled “Sweating the Metal”.

Complimentary coffee served from 7.0pm £2 entry donation invited from non-members. RAeS members, Branch ‘Friends’ and students: free.