Careful to avoid the Sea Jet thread and hopeful that I have never shown FJ tendencies, may I nevertheless commend
3 Squadron and their return home from Kandahar. In this this joint (really) detachment, the aircrew, maintainers and support teams have reset the Joint Harrier Force capability benchmark.
In a challenging 4 month deployment in support of ISAF and coalition forces operating in the troubled southern area of Afghanistan, 3(Fighter) Squadron's detachment has seen a marked increase in operational activity for the Harriers, who have maintained aircraft and crews at 30 minutes readiness to launch during daylight hours to support troops on the ground. Their very presence has often been enough to coerce the insurgents into submission, but they have also had to deliver numerous weapons onto hostile targets with great precision to allow coalition forces to continue their operations.
They have completed their last
GR7A operational sortie and will move on to the Typhoon. Cracking job and well done.