Joint Forward Air Controller Training and Standards Unit
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Joint Forward Air Controller Training & Standards Unit JFACTSU |
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|---|---|
An Improved Data Modem computer being used in a JFACTSU training course in 2004
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| Active | 1964 – present |
| Country |
 United Kingdom |
| Branch |
 Royal Navy British Army Royal Air Force
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| Type | Training |
| Role | Forward Air Controller training |
| Garrison/HQ |
RAF Chivenor, Devon, England 1964-1977 54°17′50.9″N 1°31′36.4″W / 54.297472°N 1.526778°W |
RAF Chivenor, Devon, England 1964-1977
RAF Brawdy, Pembrokeshire, Wales 1977-1993
RAF Finningley, Yorkshire, England 1993-1995
The Joint Forward Air Controller Training and Standards Unit (JFACTSU) is a training unit located at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, England. The unit teaches students from across all three services of the United Kingdom's Armed Forces (and international allies) about Forward Air Control (FAC) including laser designation of targets. Forward Air Controllers working from a forward position on the ground or in the air, direct the action of combat aircraft engaged in close air support of land forces.
During the First World War, troops on the ground would use flares, ground markers and flags to guide pilots in on targets. The difficulties in actual communication between the air and the ground meant that real time information was lost. By the time of the Africa Campaign in 1941, man portable radios were available for troops on the ground to brief aircrew. This lead in turn to the establishment of Forward Air Support Links (FASL) (or Rover Parties) which involved soldiers and Airmen of RAF Desert Air Force.
After the Second World War, the lessons learned were taken forward into the Air Land Integration policy of the School of Land-Air Warfare (SLAW) which taught formal FAC training at RAF Old Sarum in Wiltshire. When flying ceased at RAF Old Sarum, the FAC training moved on as part of the Joint Warfare Establishment firstly to RAF Chivenor then to RAF Brawdy.
When RAF Brawdy was decommissioned as an RAF base and handed over to the army, JFACTSU moved to RAF Finningley in South Yorkshire. Finningley then closed just two years later and in 1995, JFACTSU moved to its present location at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire.
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