Editing RAF Strike Command (section)

==History==
Strike Command was formed on 30 April 1968 by the merger of [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]] and [[RAF Fighter Command|Fighter Command]],<ref name=time60>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/rafhistorytimeline196069.cfm |title=RAF Timeline 1960–1968|publisher= RAF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301193157/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/rafhistorytimeline196069.cfm |archive-date=1 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> which became [[No. 1 Group RAF|No. 1 Group]] and [[No. 11 Group RAF|No. 11 Group]] respectively. [[RAF Signals Command|Signals Command]] was absorbed on 1 January 1969,<ref>[http://www.rafwatton.info/History/1945toPresent/History1969/tabid/88/Default.aspx The history of RAF Watton in detail for 1969] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727221607/http://www.rafwatton.info/History/1945toPresent/History1969/tabid/88/Default.aspx |date=27 July 2011 }}</ref> [[RAF Coastal Command|Coastal Command]] was absorbed on 28 November 1969,<ref>Ashworth 1992, p. 222.</ref> becoming [[No. 18 Group RAF]]. The former component Coastal Command groups became the [[Northern Maritime Air Region]] and [[Southern Maritime Air Region]]. [[RAF Air Support Command|Air Support Command]] (formerly [[RAF Transport Command|Transport Command]]) was absorbed on 1 September 1972, becoming [[No. 46 Group RAF]].<ref>[http://www.wingnet.org/rtw/RTW006FF.HTM RAF Support Command Round-the-World Global Flight]</ref>

=== NATO Role ===
In 1975, the Command doubled as [[NATO]], Commander-in-Chief [[United Kingdom Air Forces]] (UKAIR).<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1975/1975%20-%200715.html Commander UK Air Forces appointed] Flight International, 17 April 1975</ref> UKAIR fell under NATO's [[Allied Command Europe]] in [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]] in [[Belgium]]. In case of war with the [[Warsaw Pact]] the command would have commanded all Royal Air Force units in the United Kingdom as well as the [[US Air Force]]'s [[Third Air Force]] based at [[RAF Mildenhall]] with its subordinate wings and squadrons. Reinforcements coming from the continental United States, as well as units transitioning to other European fronts, would have also come under UKAIR.

=== Post Cold War ===
[[Royal Air Force Germany|RAF Germany]] was absorbed as [[No. 2 Group RAF|No. 2 (Bomber) Group]] on 1 April 1993.<ref>[http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/rafhistorytimeline199099.cfm RAF Timeline 1990–1999] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924124845/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/rafhistorytimeline199099.cfm |date=24 September 2015 }} RAF</ref> As of 1 April 2000, the structure was altered to leave No. 1 Group with tactical fast jet forces, No. 2 Group with air transport, air refueling, and reconnaissance, the [[RAF Regiment]], and [[No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron RAF]]. No. 3 Group was to include Nimrod long-range [[Maritime Patrol]] aircraft, [[Search and rescue]] helicopters, and the Joint Force 2000, later to become [[Joint Force Harrier]]. [[Flag Officer Naval Aviation]] moved over to command No. 3 Group, the first incumbent becoming [[Rear Admiral]] [[Iain Henderson]]. "At the core of the structure [were] to be the central air staffs, responsible to Deputy Chief of Staff Operations for air power, ongoing operations, joint training, and force development."<ref>Royal Air Force, "New Millenium - New Strike Command: Royal Air Force Headquarters to Restructure," Release 430/99, 1 December 1999, accessed at http://www.mod.uk/news/prs/430_99.htm. Copy preserved at http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/1182/uk-mod-restructures-raf-strike-command-(dec.-2).html.</ref> The [[Air Warfare Centre]] at Waddington and the [[Military Air Traffic Organisation]] at Uxbridge also joined Strike Command.

The RAF's Process and Organisation Review concluded that Strike Command and [[RAF Personnel and Training Command|Personnel and Training Command]] should be co-located at a single command headquarters: it was subsequently decided that both commands should be located at [[RAF High Wycombe|High Wycombe]] and in 2007 Strike Command and Personnel and Training Command were merged into a single command – [[RAF Air Command|Air Command]].<ref>[http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/rafcommand.cfm RAF Command] RAF</ref>