JAC
Joint Aviation Command
Per Omnes Terminus · Across All Boundaries
Chinook, Apache and Wildcat. Reconnaissance, attack aviation and heavy lift for the rest of the brigade.
Current standing
Posted strength
13
Established billets
21
Open billets
8
Listed in full below.
The role
What this sub-unit is for
The Joint Aviation Command is a single command holding three flying squadrons and a Tactical Air Control Party: No. 18 Squadron RAF on Chinook HC6, 663 Squadron AAC on Apache AH-64E, and 659 Squadron AAC on Wildcat AH1, with 600 Squadron RAuxAF holding reserve aircrew and ground trades.
Aviation is not a side attraction here. Nearly every operation begins with an air assault insertion and ends with an extraction, which means the aircrew are working the plan from the orders group onward — landing site selection, routing around known threats, hold points, and what happens when the primary site is hot.
Aircrew is a two-seat job. A Chinook carries a pilot and a co-pilot with two door gunners; an Apache flies with a pilot and a gunner in the front seat running the sensor and the cannon. Nobody flies alone, and the standard for handover, checklists and comms discipline is the highest in the brigade because the consequences are.
Kit and platforms
- Airframes
- Chinook HC6Apache AH-64EWildcat AH1Puma HC2
- Crew stations
- PilotCo-pilotDoor gunnerFront-seat gunner
- Comms
- Air netGround callsign netJTAC brevity
On the night
What you actually do
Planning
At the Thursday orders group with the ground callsigns: routes, landing sites, alternates, threat picture, and the fires plan the Apache will be working to.
Insertion serials
Chinook lifts the assaulting company in chalks, on time, on the numbers. Wildcat runs the command team and any pathfinder insertion ahead of the main body.
Overhead
Apache holds overwatch and works to the JTAC on the ground for close air support. Wildcat runs armed reconnaissance and talks the ground picture back to the commander.
Casualty and extraction
The Medical Emergency Response Team goes forward on a Chinook to lift casualties, then the same airframes run the extraction serials at end of mission.
Training pathway
Training programme →Courses, in the order you take them
Every course below is run in-house on a training night and produces a qualification record on your file. Nothing here costs you anything but the evening.
RAF Initial Training
Entry for aircrew joining the RAF side of the command.
Elementary Flying Training
Handling, circuits, navigation. Before any type.
Conversion to Type
Chinook / Puma, Apache or Wildcat. One at a time.
Operational Aircrewman
Door gunnery, underslung loads, aircraft captaincy support.
Instrument Rating
Night and degraded-visibility flying.
Medical Emergency Response Team
Crewing casualty evacuation serials.
Open billets
Where we are short
These are unfilled positions on the live order of battle. Name one on your application and it will be considered when you are posted.
VTX 551
Vortex 551
Aircrew
A vacant posting on the live order of battle.
VTX 551
Vortex 551
Aircrew
A vacant posting on the live order of battle.
VTX 552
Vortex 552
Aircrew
A vacant posting on the live order of battle.
Structure
JAC in full
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Joint Aviation Command
JAC · TEMPEST 10-
Squadron Commander Command
-
No. 18 Squadron RAF, A Flight
18 SQN · VortexAttached:
Sqn Ldr J. Bendall
,
LCpl M. Sierra
-
OC, A Flight, No.18 Squadron Command
-
Vortex 551
VTX 551 · Vortex 5 5 1-
Vacant
-
Vacant
-
Vortex 552
VTX 552 · Vortex 5 5 2-
Vacant
-
-
-
RAFR — Tactical Air Control Party
TACP · Pegasus 4-0-
Vacant
-
Join JAC
Ask for this sub-unit on your application
Aircrew and door gunners. Flying seats are limited and are earned through the training pipeline rather than requested at application — most aircrew start as a door gunner or in the ground trades and convert. Existing rotary experience in Arma helps but is not required.