Graduation ceremony for latest recruits to RAF Regiment at Honington airbase

Eighteen new members of the RAF Regiment, a specialist corps, were honoured at a graduation ceremony at RAF Honington last Thursday.

Friends and relatives of the graduates gathered at Honington's Parade Square for the event.

The graduates recently passed the Trainee Gunner Course, and were formally received at the ceremony by the squadron commanders and warrant officers representing various RAF Regiment units.

The graduates are part of the 'Meiktila Flight' generation of trainees, named after an RAF airfield in Burma that was the site of a major battle in 1945.

A spokesperson for RAF Honington said: "Congratulations go to the 18 members of Trainee Gunner Course 6-21, Meiktila Flight, the newest members of the RAF Regiment to have graduated here at RAF Honington today.

"Each graduate is welcomed into a family which is constituted a Corps, styled a Regiment, and truly dedicated to the delivery of Force Protection to Royal Air Force assets on a global scale."

Some of the new 'Gunners' will remain at RAF Honington, while others are to be posted to bases across the UK, including RAF Brize Norton.

In addition, a number of prizes were presented on the day.

These included the SAC Luders Campion Shot Trophy, which recognises the best shooter among the graduates, and the Frank Sylvester Trophy, awarded to best all-round Gunner.