Air Wing - The Jamaica Defence Force

History
Roles
Organisation
Aircraft Types
Unit Notice Board

MOTTO: We Fly for All

History
In 1963 the need for light aircraft in the newly formed Jamaica Defence Force led to the formation of a Reserve Air Squadron . This was staffed with a number of enthusiastic pilots from the Jamaica Flying Club, who either owned or had access to private light aircraft.

In July that year the United States, as part of a military agreement, handed over four Cessna 185B Skywagon aircraft to Jamaica. A pilot who was at the time employed by the Jamaican Government was seconded to the JDF. A Bell 47G helicopter was delivered in October and a second Bell 47G was collected by JDF AW pilots from Forth Worth, Texas in March 1964 and flown to Jamaica. In October of that year, a British Army Air Corps officer, the first officer to command the Air Wing, arrived in Jamaica. His main tasks were to train the helicopter pilots and organize the unit. This officer, with a small team of JDF officers and other ranks, started the JDF Air Wing on its growth and versatility.

Roles
The primary role is support of the infantry in military operations, thus providing air mobility to virtually any location in the region.

The Air Wing provides operational support to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (Police), primarily in the form of aerial surveillance.

The unit conducts drug eradication in an ongoing operation code-named ‘Operation Buccaneer’, the main effort being to destroy plantations of illegal marijuana plants. This is the most frequent operational mission flown by the Air Wing.

Among other taskings the Air Wing’s fixed wing aircrafts are employed on Long Range Maritime Patrols (LRMP) to conduct offshore surveillance and coastal patrols. Through LRMPs, the aircraft locate and report on foreign vessels fishing illegally and conducting illicit trade in Jamaican waters.

The Air Wing provides assistance to the Ministry of Health in conducting casualty and medical evacuations. Since 1997, the Air Wing has conducted more than one hundred such mercy missions, patients being usually flown from rural hospitals to more sophisticated ones in the Kingston metropolitan area.

The JDF Air Wing is called on from time to time to provide assistance to various national and private agencies. The unit has flown many missions on behalf of the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park and Forestry Department, conducting search and rescue for lost or injured hikers. Similar missions are flown to save lives at sea.

In the aftermath of natural disasters, JDF AW provides crucial assistance to government agencies in support of relief operations.

The Air Wing also transports VIPs including heads of state and government ministers, ambassadors and high ranking military officers.

Organisation
The JDF Air Wing is a relatively small unit with a strength of just over 25 officers and 115 other ranks, both men and women. This includes aircrew, ground crew, technicians and other specialists.

JDF AW operates three ‘line’ flights. The unit’s Number 1 Flight is fixed wing and is based at Norman Manley International Airport in the capital, Kingston. The Numbers 2 and 3 Flights are utility and reconnaissance helicopter flights respectively. Both are operated out of the JDF’s headquarters, Up Park Camp in Kingston.

Technical support is provided by a sub-unit, No 1 Field Workshop. This conducts aircraft servicing, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Engine and component overhaul is conducted overseas. Aircraft technicians comprise nearly 38% of the JDF AW personnel.

Air Wing’s Support Flight provides motor transport, fire fighting services, airfield security and air traffic control for its parent unit. The fire unit’s main responsibility is to provide crash rescue services in case of accident on or near the Up Park Camp airfield. It is also the fire unit that provides fire fighting services within Up Park Camp in the event of natural cover (bush) or structural fires. The Fire Unit has an additional responsibility of supporting the national fire and emergency services when called upon.

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