Jamaica Defense Force Air Wing

Jamaica Defense Force Air Wing
Lineup	3rd July 1963
Country	Jamaica
Armed forces	Jamaica Defense Force
Armed forces	Air Force
Type	Armed Forces (since April 1, 1977; previously service category )
Subordinate troops	JDF Air Wing ( National Reserve )
Strength	~ 140 (status: 2004)
Squadron staff	Up Park Camp , Kingston
motto	"We Fly For All" We fly for everyone (s)
Tradition	Jamaica Air Squadron (1963) JDF Air Wing (since 1963)
Beret color	Light Blue
Web presence	JDF Air Wing
commander
Commanding officer	Lieutenant Colonel Jaimie Ogilvie
insignia
Aircraft cockade
National emblem ( vertical stabilizer )
Flag of the Air Force

The Jamaica Defense Force Air Wing (JDF AW) is the air wing of the Jamaica Defense Force and represents the air force of the Jamaican armed forces .

history

With the re-establishment of national armed forces under the 1962 obtained independence of the country in early 1963, with the air squadron Jamaica Air Squadron of the Jamaica National Reserve set up a provisional national air support component with an initial four recruited pilots of Jamaica Flying Club for the first time. All four were trained pilots in the Royal Air Force and were the first instructors to train pilots in the young Jamaican armed forces. Since the Jamaica Defense Force did not have its own aircraft at that time, the pilots had to fly and train with their own aircraft.

On July 3, 1963, the Jamaica Defense Force Air Wing was officially set up, on July 9, four Cessna 185Bs were delivered by the US government ( aircraft registration numbers JDF A-1 to JDF A-4). Two flight trainers from the United States Air Force were provided for training. On October 11, 1963, Major Leslie Whittingham-Jones, a helicopter flight instructor for the British Army Air Corps (AAC), was assigned its first official commanding officer (CO) to the air wing. His job was to organize and train the air support forces. He also introduced the light blue beret for members of the Air Force. Shortly after his transfer, the first rotary wing aircraft was delivered, a Bell 47G-3B-1 (aircraft registration JDF H-1). In 1961 with the establishment of the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force Air Section , the troops genus-specific mapped officer training. The second helicopter followed in March 1964. Gradually, other helicopters of the flight types Bell 206 and Bell 212 followed .

In the beginning, the association was subordinate to the Garrison Administrative Unit in Up Park Camp , from which the Support and Services Battalion emerged in 1973. On April 1, 1977, the Jamaica Defense Force Air Wing became a separate armed force . In May 1981, the fixed-wing aircraft were moved to Norman Manley International Airport. For the local JDF Air Wing Manley Base , also known as “A1”, the hangar “Eagles Nest” was opened at the airport on February 12, 1988 . The training planes and helicopters are stationed at the Caribbean Military Aviation School . The training of pilots and aircraft technicians also takes place in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada . The training of pilots in Canada ceased in April 1972.

Commanding officers

Period	commander
1963-1965	Major Leslie Whittingham-Jones
1965-1969	Major Robert James Neish
1969-1971	Major George Brown
1971-1977	Lieutenant Colonel Anthony C. "Bunny" De V. Stern
1977-1979	Major Effiom Whyte
1979-1980	Lieutenant Colonel Anthony C. De V. Stern
1980-1982	Lieutenant Colonel Torrance DG Lewis
1982-1985	Lieutenant Commander John McFarlane
1985-1987	Major Errol Alliman
1987-1991	Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Derby
1991-1995	Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Emerson St. Leonard Saunders
1995-2000	Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Derby
2000-2003	Lieutenant Colonel Antony Bertram Anderson
2003-2012	Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Roper
since 2012	Lieutenant Colonel Jaimie Stuart Archibald Ogilvie

Aircraft

Current flight patterns

Manufacturer	model	use	Country of Manufacture	number	Remarks	photos
Fixed wing aircraft
Cessna	210M Centurion	light transport aircraft	United States	1	since 1983
Britten-Norman	Islander BN-2A	light transport aircraft	United Kingdom	1	since 1974
Diamond	DA40-FP	Trainer aircraft	Austria	2	since 2006
Diamond	DA42-L360	Trainer aircraft	Austria	2	since 2013
Rotary wing aircraft
Bell	Bell 407	Support helicopter	United States	4th	since 2007
Bell	Bell 206	Training helicopter	United States	2	since 2008
Bell	412EP	Support helicopter	United States	1	since 1998

Flight types decommissioned

• Bell 47G Sioux : 2 helicopters from 1963 to 1964
• Bell 212 Twin-Huey : 3 helicopters in the period from 1973 to 1999
• Bell 222 UT : 1 helicopter from 1986 to 1988
• Bell UH-1 Iroquois : 4 helicopters from 1989 to 1998
• Beech B60 Duke : 1 aircraft in the period from 1975 to 2003
• Beechcraft King Air A100 : 1 aircraft in the period 1975 to 2003
• Eurocopter AS 355N Ecureuil 2 : four helicopters in the period from 1999 to 2009
• Cessna 185 Skywagon : 4 aircraft between 1963 and 1985
• de Havilland Canada Twin Otter : 2 aircraft from 1967 to 1980

Web links

Commons : Air Wing of Jamaica Defense Force  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• JDF Air Wing

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jamaica ; In: Peter Calvert: Political and Economic Dictionary of Latin America , Routledge, 2004, p. 175.
2. ^ "We Fly For All" - History , JDF.
3. ^ Past Commanding Officers , JDF.
4. ↑ Equipment (Aircraft) ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , JDF.