All Harrier pilots deployed to Sierra leone? Sh*thouses!
"1. Q. Is this just one step on the road to ‘disbanding’ the Fleet air Arm?
A. There is no hidden agenda to “march off” the Fleet Air Arm. SDR envisaged that there would be a joint RN/RAF shareholding in both JFH and FJCA and this has been agreed by the service chiefs. Moreover, Joint RN/RAF carrier-based deployments are now very much the norm, as was seen recently in Sierra Leone.
Comment: But the RAF Harriers did not/would not fly missions over the land in Sierra Leone – they were afraid of not getting back to the ship. The RAF Harriers rarely embark and then only for a few weeks at most. This can hardly be called a “norm”.