What are the three major roles of the RAF??
Delivery of Equal Opportunities training, participation in the MoD Corporate Communications strategy, maintenance of budgetary procedures.
On a serious note there are clearly defined roles to Air Power (a useful term to remember) along these lines:
Strategic Air Offensive - strategic bombing a la WW2.
Counter Air Campaign (Offensive/Defensive) - destroying enemy air (and ground to air) assets.
Air Interdiction - destroying enemy infrastructure to prevent enemy armed forces being deployed.
Close Air Support (sometimes alongside as Battlefield Air Interdiction) - self-explanatory!
There are more roles but I can\'t remember them! These may be out of date, as the flavour of the month seems to be "Effects Based" warfare and intergration of firepower from all 3 services and environments ie. bombing, standoff missiles (air and sea launched) and use of artillery in a co-ordinated manner. Also, jointery is very popular - the grouping of helicopters into Joint Helicopter Command.
I\'d recommending looking at at the Strike Command Group structure to define the "three" major roles: Delivery of Air Power (1 Gp), Air Transport/Air-to-Air Refuelling (2 Gp), ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance Target Acquisition and Radar (or is it reconnaisance) ...I think... (3 Gp). 1 Gp - air defenders and mud-movers, 2 Gp - tankers and transports, 3 Gp - E3 Sentry airborne radar aircraft, ASTOR airborne ground-scanning radar etc..
The good thing nowadays is that the information is very easy to glean from sources such as the RAF website.