CHRISTMAS PARCELS HAVE been dispatched from Moray to RAF outposts around the world this week – a reminder that those at home have not forgotten the 100 local service personnel who won’t be home this holiday.
Individuals from RAF Lossiemouth are currently on deployment to such as the Falkland Islands, Ascension Island, Canada, Nigeria and the Middle East. All are deployed as ‘individual augmentees’ – which means they are posted to supplement operational tasks that are led by units not from the Moray base.
Helping the base community support team to prepare the parcels was that Station Commander, Group Captain Paul Godfrey, who added a personal Christmas Card to each. The parcels contained traditional shortbread, tinsel, toiletries and a pair of Christmas themed socks – but one special parcel also contained some treats for one Military Working Dog currently deployed in the Falkland Islands with their handler.
Tesco and Superdrug stores in Elgin both provided a discount on some of the items in the parcels.
Squadron Leader Arlene Walker is Officer Commanding of Personnel Management Squadron and leads the Community Support Team, she said: “Christmas is very much a season of spending time with the ones we love and of sharing, caring and giving.
“Due to deployments many RAF Lossiemouth personnel will be unable to enjoy the luxury of coming together with their family and friends. As we embrace the festive period it is particularly important that those deployed personnel, and their families, remain at the forefront of the Station’s thoughts and are included wherever possible.
“Our Community Support Team continue to provide Christmas parcels for our Service personnel in order to remind them that we are thinking of them, and appreciate the sacrifices they make in support of the Station’s mission of delivering global operations.
“Furthermore, for the families of those deployed the Team continue to organise regular events and activities under the Deployment Support Programme in order to provide fun, friendship and information.
“To all of those deployed on operations, and to those who remain behind in support, I express my sincere thanks on behalf of the Team.”