No. 674 Squadron AAC

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No. 674 Squadron AAC
Active	11 July 2003 – 30 April 2021
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Army Air Corps
Role	Elementary Flying Training
Part of	No. 3 Flying Training School RAF
Garrison/HQ	RAF Barkston Heath
Motto(s)	English: Nothing Is Impossible
March	The Lincolnshire Poacher
Anniversaries	11 July 2003
Light Fixed Wing Trainer	Grob Prefect

674 Squadron AAC was a unit of the British Army Air Corps. It conducted elementary flying training for British Army pilots and occasionally for overseas military pilots. Due to the removal of fixed-wing assets from the Army Air Corps, and modernisation of the flying training system, 674 Sqn AAC stood down on 30 April 2021.^[1]

History[]

Formation[]

The number 674 was one of several allocated to the RAF AOP Squadrons during the second world war, however no squadron was commissioned before the numbers were transferred to the Army Air Corps in 1957. The number remained unused until the emergence of a distinct army and navy presence at the Defence Elementary Flying Training School necessitated restructuring into two separate squadrons. 674 Squadron was selected because it was the next available unused number.

A formation parade and ceremony was held at RAF Barkston Heath on 11 July 2003, with the Squadron stood up under the first Officer Commanding, Major A M Mills AAC and the first Army Sergeant QFI, Sergeant Ian Trolley AAC (the most junior ranked Army person to ever become a Military QFI). The squadron was inaugurated by Major General Richard Gerrard-Wright CB CBE DL on behalf of the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Mike Walker. The Chief of the Defence Staff granted the squadron its own march, 'The Lincolnshire Poacher'.

Heraldry[]

The squadron motto 'Nothing Is Impossible' was selected by the Regimental Committee of the Army Air Corps in order to perpetuate the memory of the Glider Pilot Regiment which bore the same motto.

The squadron crest bears the Sphinx of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, chosen because of the squadron's initial location at Barkston Heath in Lincolnshire and the close association of the Chief of the Defence Staff with the Army Air Corps (he was the Regimental Colonel) and the Royal Anglian Regiment, the successor to the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment.

Present day[]

Recent operations[]

A Grob 120TP ‘Prefect’, presently operated by 674 Sqn AAC.

674 Sqn AAC most recently conducted Elementary Flying Training, operating the Prefect T1 turboprop trainer to students from all three Services of the Armed Forces. Training was delivered as part of the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) contract.^[2]

See also[]

• 703 Naval Air Squadron - the equivalent Royal Navy squadron, also based at RAF Barkston Heath.
• List of Army Air Corps aircraft units

References[]