I have been reading this thread with interest but find it impossible to follow some people’s logic.
I understand most people serving in England can't see much further than their own cushy lifes' but the rationale for closing Lossie and Kinloss escapes me.
The Airspace on the East coast of England is becoming more and more cramped, the opening of Finingley as a civil airport the expansion of Leeds Bradford, Teeside and Newcastle, new runways at Stanstead and the ever increasing traffic levels at Luton will soon drive Civil ATC to yet again increase the amount of CAS. The RAF wont be able to fight it as the decision for expansion has already been made in the UK Aviation White paper; the military white paper however proposes cuts in the amount of service aircraft.
That only leaves the remoter stations with any hope of safeguarding the airspace around them for military operations.
At a recent DART brief (sorry I don’t know what it stands for) these factors were blatantly obvious, equally the recent court case where the owners of an ancestral home won a vast settlement from the MOD because of noise pollution, has also sharpened the mind.
Furthermore, access to ideal training areas without the need to AAR before entry is again a factor.
All these combined; leave Lossie and Kinloss as well as Valley and Culdrose ideally situated. Yes, they are along way from RAF Lincolnshire or London but that is exactly their appeal.
The GR4 is a ground attack ac by definition, so why then when Lossie is so close to Tain range, Garvie island and the HRA as well as the Grampian mountains is it considered at risk of closure. Surely, when all is considered Marham is in a far more fragile position. Granted it’s in England but unless we intend to bomb the **** out of Holland, I mean act as a force for good, it’s about as much use as tits on a fish.
At said DART brief, some revelations came out, namely: The closure of Lyneham (already announced) Then, Coltishaw, Leeming, and possibly Cottesmore and Whitering. The re-sitting of GR9 to Yeovilton and St Mawgan and the possible re-opening of Macrahanish.
These all follow a common theme, downsizing in the East where it is busy and moving to remoter locations where it is not.
This may piss the people that are already serving off, but the decisions made now are based on expected requirements in 2020 not because you have had it nice and cushy along the A1 for years.