Page 53 - Mind, Body & Spirit Number 104 2020/21

Over this turbulent period Wattisham based Military personnel were largely protected from being directly tasked with supporting Operation RESCRIPT (the UK’s COVID-19
support), due to supporting 3 and 4 AAC Regiments readiness profiles at extremely high and high readiness to meet Operational Defence outputs throughout National lockdowns.
As such it was necessary for Wattisham Flying Station to introduce bespoke and wide-ranging measures to protect our workforce against the spread of COVID-19 whilst maintaining support to readiness and adhering to strict Aviation safety measures. The Station received two Military Assistance to the Civilian Authority (MACA) requests from Joint Command Headquarters.
The first was to support the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS) by providing infrastructure, to allow them to increase the
capacity of their fleet to meet the likely increased demand for critical emergency care vehicles. The second task was to provide accommodation to military personnel that were tasked to form the Mobile Regional Testing Teams (MRTT’s).
Both these MACA tasks were relatively low key in comparison to many other MACA tasks disseminated across Defence, but none the less vital in supporting the Regions overall effort to manage the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like many of the Headquarter elements across the Army a large proportion of the work strands and meetings have been achieved whilst working from home due to the roll out of the MOD laptops. This resulted in all Headquarters Wattisham Flying Station personnel maintaining their fitness by completing the Lone Soldier Physical Training Programme.
HQ WATTISHAM FLYING STATION
WO2 (QMSI) C Jackson RAPTC
Apache in flight at Wattisham Flying Station
51
Fleet of ambulances held at Wattisham Flying Station