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1. Name
2. Date Commisioned
3. Date Retired
4. Rank
5. Awarded Wings
6. Flying Schools
James DRESNER
24 April 1991
21 November 2011
Major RM
February 1996
School of Army Aviation Middle Wallop
RAF Valley
Where it all began - Flying Grading at Middle Wallop in 1994
7. Aircraft Types Flown
Chipmunk
Gazelle AH1
Lynx Mk7
Grob Tutor
Hawk
Sea Harrier FA2
AV8B Harrier II+
Harrier GR7/9
PA31 Navajo
EC135 Helicopter
Boeing 737-300
8. Squadrons
847 Naval Air Squadron RNAS Yeovilton
665 Squadron AAC - Aldergrove, Northern Ireland
208 Squadron RAF - RAF Valley
19(F) Squadron RAF - RAF Valley
899 Naval Air Squadron (Sea Harrier OCU) - RNAS Yeovilton
801 Naval Air Squadron - RNAS Yeovilton
Marine Attack Squadron 203 - MCAS Cherry Point
Marine Attack Squadron 542 - MCAS Cheery Point
HMM 365 (Reinforced) - USS IWO JIMA
Marine Attack Squadron 223 - MCAS Cherry Point
20(R) Squadron RAF - RAF Wittering
Naval Strike Wing - RAF Cottesmore
800 Naval Air Squadron - RAF Cottesmore
9. Aircraft / Commando Carriers
HMS Fearless
HMS Ocean
HMS Invincible
USS Iwo Jima
HMS Illustrious
HMS Ark Royal
10. Senior Appointments
Senior Pilot 801 NAS - Sea Harrier FA2
Senior Pilot 899 NAS - Sea Harrier OCU
OCB Flight Naval Strike Wing - Harrier GR9
Senior Pilot 800 NAS - Harrier GR9
11. Decorations and Medals
GSM Northern Ireland
OSM Afghanistan
Queen's Jubilee Medal
Sea Harrier FA2 low over the sea
12. General
James 'Judge' Dresner joined the Royal Marines from School at the age of 19 in May 1991. After 15 months of officer training at CTCRM Lympstone he was appointed to 45 Commando based in Arbroath, Scotland. For the next year he commanded a Troop of 30 Marines on exercises which included arctic training in northern Norway and jungle training in Belize. After 16 months spent as a School’s Liaison Officer based in Bristol, he finally got to realise his ambition and attended the Army Pilots Course Number 360 at Middle Wallop, starting in February 1995. During a challenging but rewarding year he learned to fly initially the Chipmunk, complete with cartridge start, and then the Gazelle AH1 helicopter. He was awarded his Army Pilots Wings in February 1996 and won the prize for the best student on the course.
Army Pilots Course 360 Wings Parade February 1996
A posting to RNAS Yeovilton and 847 Naval Air Squadron followed where he deployed to the USA on Exercise Purple Star on the East Coast, followed by CAX in the Mojave Desert on the West Coast. Jim was then sent to Northern Ireland for 6 months to work for 665 Sqn Army Air Corps, flying the Gazelle in support of the ground forces. After returning to 847 NAS and completing Artic flying training he converted to the Lynx AH7 in 1997.
Getting a flight in the front seat of a USMC Cobra AH1 during CAX 1996 in the Mojave Desert
In April 1998 he was the Lynx Detachment Commander for Exercise Destined Glory in the Mediterranean where the squadron deployed 2 Lynx and 2 Gazelle along with 2 Sea King Mk4s from 845 NAS onto HMS FEARLESS. There was not much space on the back of the ship for the 6 aircraft, but after the ship's fridges failed and they had to place refrigerated containers on the flight deck, the space got even smaller. During the exercise Jim went with C/Sgt Nick Taylor to conduct deck landing practices on the USS WASP, an LHD that belonged to the 24th MEU. Having landed on they were informed that they were to be chained down and a CH 53 would land on the spot in front of them on the deck. As the CH 53 came in Jim went to full negative pitch on the Lynx's rotors to try to stop the aircraft being thrown overboard by the immense downwash. To say it was uncomfortable was an understatement, and he politely suggest to the controller that the Lynx be allowed to depart before the 53 took off again! It was the last time squadron aircraft were to fly from HMS FEARLESS, a very historical ship but she was definitely showing her age.
The 847 NAS Detachment take afternoon tea on HMS Fearless
After an extremely enjoyable detachment to Saillagouse for some mountain flying training in the Pyrenees in September 1998, Jim then deployed on HMS OCEAN's warm weather trails in 1998 where the ship went to Emergency Stations soon after leaving Portsmouth due to a fuel pump fire, but then managed to proceed to the British Virgin Islands. Hurricane Mitch then hit Nicaragua and Honduras and OCEAN was diverted to help out in the aftermath. After four weeks of flying Marines and supplies to help the locals ashore on Op Tellar, OCEAN's programme was altered and she then proceeded to Miami for a port visit for 4 days or so, 1 night back on board and another 4 day visit to Mayport. Needless to say, everyone was 'run ashored out' by the time the ship headed home.
In the cockpit of the Nicaraguan Hip helicopter during Hurricane Mitch relief work. The usual Nicaraguan pilot was so small he had to stand up to taxi so he could see out of the front windscreen!
In January 1999 Jim attended the Helicopter Warfare Instructors Course as the first Royal Marine to ever be selected. It was traditionally a Naval Anti-Submarine Pilot / Observers course, but Junglie Sea King pilots did attend the course before taking up the HWI position on a front line squadron. He was disappointed tha the course was still very much geared up for 'Pingers' but when he graduated 6 months later he was the first ever Royal Marine to be awarded the qualification and returned to 847 NAS as the first ever HWI. He quickly managed to get himself qualified as an Army HWI, which involved a crash course on instructing on and supervising the TOW missile system and established the position within the squadron's hierarchy.
In early 2000 he was lucky to command a detachment of 2 Lynx to support Brigade Patrol Troop during their exercise in Romania. After a luxurious couple of days in one of the best hotels in Bucharest waiting for the aircraft to be re-built, the detachment moved up to their home for the next month which somewhat resembled Dracula's castle. The weather was difficult to predict, and the numerous Romanian Generals tried to stop the detachment from flying when the weather in Bucharest was average, despite the aircraft being 100 or so miles north of Bucharest. They were not used to the same flying conditions that Naval Aviation trained its pilots for.
The 847 NAS Lynx Detachment to Romania in 2000 - sponsored by Tuborg Beer!
To refuel the aircraft they had to be flown to a village some 40 miles or so northwest of the base at 'Dracula's Castle.' There awaited a 1950's vintage bowser in a field where the aircraft could be fueled. Every time the aircraft came in to land there would be a crowd of local children gathered on the landing spot and they would climb all over the aircraft as soon as it was shut down. The pilots would ensure that any kids sat in the cockpit would be given the other pilot's flying helmet to try on, as by the looks of them head lice could be a real concern!
Romanian children sat in the Lynx while waiting for a refuel
On return to Yeovilton in March he was keen to try to attend the Air 309 fast jet crossover course, having already once been turned down by the Royal Marines. To that end he went across to the south side of the airfield and flew in a Hawk Mk1 with Capt Phil Kelly RM who had been able to get streamed to fast jet through the new JEFTS system. He was instantly hooked on the idea, despite Phil pulling 6g on every turn and doing his best to finish him off! He again applied for Air 309, but in the meantime deployed to Norway on Exercise Bold Game in Norway. Sadly one of the other crew members managed to overtemp one of the engines and the Lynx did not fly during the 2 week exercise as a new engine was brought out and fitted.
In September 2000 he finally got his wish (and this time without telling the Royal Marines Appointer) by being selected for Air 309. The course started with a re-introduction to fixed wing flying on the Grob at Plymouth Airport, before groundschool and simulator on the Hawk at RAF Valley before a return to Yeovilton for the Hawk Course.
Air 309 Course at RNAS Yeovilton September 2000
The course was intense, but the chance to fly solo in a Hawk fast jet was one that would never be forgotten. Jim was lucky to pass the course and moved on to RAF Valley to attend the full fast jet course as part of V60. On 208 Sqn there was consolidation on the general flying of the Hawk, before moving onto 19(F) Squadron where they taught the Tactical Weapons phase.
On graduation from Valley in March 2002 Jim was selected to fly the Sea Harrier, despite already knowing that its days were numbered and it was to be phased out of service. Nevertheless the opportunity to fly such an iconic aircraft was one that was not to be missed. The move from the Hawk to the Sea Harrier was quite a steep one, with Head Up Displays and nozzles to get to grips with. Jim spent a very hard, but challenging year learning to fly the Sea Harrier and graduated from 899 Naval Air Squadron back to the front line in April 2003, 2 1/2 years after leaving the helicopter front line. He joined 801 Naval Air Squadron, also at Yeovilton just as the squadron was getting ready to join HMS INVINCIBLE after a long period without embarking. INVINCIBLE had just come out of a long re-fit so it was a good time to join as there were a lot of people starting at the beginning of fixed wing embarked operations. After an interesting exercise in Finland, where the sun never set and everyone just wanted to get in a sauna (!) Jim made his first deck landing in a Harrier on HMS INVINCIBLE in May 2003.
In the front seat of the Harrier T8 - the 2 Seat Sea Harrier trainer. It was horribly cramped and the controls were all in different places than on the single seat FA2!
There was then the nightmare of HMS INVINCIBLE's BOST to get through with the squadron embarked for the whole period, enjoying all the highs and lows that being constantly gassed and set on fire can bring. Once that was complete there were several embarked exercises which culminated in the ship heading to Tennerife for a visit. Jim had been selected to detach with 800 NAS to California for a couple of weeks for Electronic Warfare trials and a live weapon drop, so was lucky enough to fly from Tennerife back to Yeovilton in an RN Jetstream complete with huge hangover from the first night ashore - that 8 hour epic was enough to kill a civvy!
Having taken the more luxurious route to California via Virgin Atlantic, Jim flew several missions from NAS China Lake, dropping his first live 1,000lb bomb on the Chocolate Mountain Range. When sat on the runway in the 100 degree heat, in a Sea Harrier with full fuel and the live 1,000lb bomb on the Air Trafficer informed Jim that there was a trial going on on the high speed sledge at the end of the runway and enquired if he could be airborne and in the turn before the midpoint of the runway. He armed the Harrier's water switch to 'take off' and told them "no chance." When they asked if he could be in the turn before the end of the runway, a response of "probably" was good enough for them to clear him to get airborne to make the range slot. Needless to say he just about made the turn before the end in a very wheezy aircraft with all the furnaces fully stoked!
It was then back to the slightly cooler climbs of the UK and back to the ship. By now Jim, with his embarked rotary experience, was considered proficient enough to qualify at night deck landings. It was however discovered that he did not yet have the requisite number of night flying hours in the jet to be able to start the work up, and so a plan was needed. He was launched off the ship at dusk to make some night approaches to the overshoot and then went ashore to RAF Leuchars to refuel. He then launched again to meet the CO on the AAR Tanker for his first ever night tanking, and then back to the ship in what was now pitch black, and off to Leuchars for the night after more night approaches. He was then sent up to Kinloss with the Senior Pilot and a couple of jets for more night flying. For 2 nights he would take off in the first jet, fly down to southern England for an instrument approach at an airfield, then back up to the overhead of Kinloss and go round in circles until the fuel lights came on. Then after landing and a quick wee it was into the second aircraft and repeat! Each sortie racked up around 1hr 40 mins which was enough to get him the requisite night hours - quantity, not quality!
'Duskers' flying from HMS INVINCIBLE in preparation for full night flying.
It was then back to the ship for his first night deck landing conducted on 20th Nov 2003. The syllabus started the pilot on a 'light duskers' landing where visual references were still available, and then worked up to a 'dark duskers' when it was pretty much pitch black, to the final dark take off and dark landing. As fuel management was always critical, and it was down to the LSO on the ship to assess the light levels, it was a bit hit and miss what level of 'duskers' was achieved. It was a good feeling though to achieve the night carrier qualification though, the most difficult thing that a Sea Harrier pilot could achieve.
Due to the imminent retirement of the Sea Harrier and the migration to the Harrier GR7, there was a shortage of senior squadron personnel. To that end, Jim was a little taken aback, and honoured, to be selected to be the squadron Senior Pilot for his last 6 months on the squadron - not bad for a first Tourist! The main event was a deployment to the USA on HMS INVINCIBLE, where he was to lead the 2 jet detachment to NAS Point Magu for the last ever Sea Harrier AMRAAM missile shoot. Sadly he was just to fly the chase aircraft as the missile was to be fired by one of the AWI student. Nevertheless it was a great sight to see the missile come of the rails.
Photograph to commemorate the last ever Sea Harrier AMRAAM firing at Point Magu, California
The flight back from west to east coast with the 2 jets was an epic (without AAR) and there is not enough space here to recount the adventure, so that can be saved for another time! Once finally back on INVINCIBLE, with a sun tan envied by those who had remained on board, there was not much of the major exercise left before the ship went to New York for a port visit. It was a sobering moment as INVINCIBLE passed the site of the Twin Towers as it was only 3 years after the attack, and then moored up in downtown Manhattan. It really was the city that did not sleep and the 4 days there were a run ashore of epic proportions. Everyone was glad to finally sail in order to give the kidneys a rest. During the Atlantic crossing Jim was approached by the CO who said that they were short of a Senior Pilot for 899 NAS during its last 7 months before disbandment, and did he want to fill the post instead of the staff course that he was due to attend. Needless to say it was a very easy choice and he had a very enjoyable time with the squadron, tinged with sadness as he led the disbandment parade which signified the end of Sea Harrier training.
In May 2005 Jim went over to the United States to commence an exchange with the United States Marine Corps, flying the AV8B Harrier II+ at MCAS Cherry Point in North Carolina. His conversion course was very short and 'gentlemanly' considering it was a completely different aircraft in a completely different role from the Sea Harrier. He joined Marine Attack Squadron 542 (VMA 542) on 11 Aug 2005 as the Assistant Operations Officer and was lucky to deploy to NAS El Centro in Arizona straight away where he dropped an assortment of live weapons and got to grips with the new aircraft.
VMA 542 Squadron pilots in El Centro, Arizona
As the previous UK Exchange Officer (RN) had refused to deploy while he was out there, the RN Captain in the British Embassy made it very clear to Jim that he would be deploying! It was therefore no surprise when he was selected as part of the 'Boat Det' for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The squadron had to detach 5 jets and 9 pilots to HMM 365 (Reinforced) which was a Sea Knight helicopter squadron, along with Cobras and CH53s. This presented a slight issue during the work ups as they were based at MCAS New River about 40 miles south of Cherry Point. The work ups for the deployment started 6 months before the June 1996 deployment date as the ship had to be worked up, and the MEU had to be fully certified before deployment. This meant that the detachment was away on the ship for 2 weeks every month for 6 months, which added extra strain to family life. The Harriers had to work all pilots up to day and night carrier qualifications, as well as training with the MEU, which made for a busy time.
What no Ramp? Going off the front of the USS IWO JIMA hoping the AV8B will fly!
Finally the detachment embarked for the 6 month deployment on June 5th 2006 and the MEU headed east across the Atlantic and to an unknown task. After port visits in France and Italy the ship headed towards the Suez Canal before disaster struck just south of Malta.
One of the young Harrier pilots conducting a night training landing on the ship had insufficient power to hover alongside and was forced to eject. Fortunately he was recovered safely and walked off the helicopter, but it was a huge blow to morale to loose a jet in that way.
USS IWO JIMA, home for 6 months during a deployment with 24th MEU
The ship continued on through the Suez Canal for an exercise in Jordan. The day that the jets flew off, tensions were starting to mount between Israel and Lebanon which made the take off interesting. Due to the wind and the narrow confines of the Gulf of Aquaba the jets had to take off pointing directly at the Israeli Coast and their air defences. As soon as the wheels were up it was a hard right turn towards Jordan as the EW kit was illuminated by Israeli Air Defence systems. Towards the end of the exercise in Jordan the MEU was ordered to re-embark and head back through the Suez Canal to position off Lebanon. The MEU went into a typical planning frenzy, before they even knew what their task was, so Jim considered himself lucky to be selected to fly by C130 to Crete to pick up one of the 2 new jets that were being delivered from the USA to replace the crashed one. The engineers took as long as possible to complete the acceptance checks to delay the return to the ship, but eventually Jim was told he had to take the first jet back. Begrudgingly he took off from Suda Bay with a C130 tanker, took a suck of fuel just short of Cyprus and then headed to the ship off Lebanon. As he broke for landing over the ship, it was so close into shore that he flew the downwind leg of the landing over the Lebanese Coast - a little disconcerting considering what was going on. After he landed he was met by some very depressed looking Harrier pilots who had been stuck on the ship with no flying as the main emphasis was on the helicopters supporting the evacuation from the US Embassy.
The ship pulled into Limassol, Cyprus for a quick standown which meant that Jim was sent over to RAF Akrotiri to arrange for MEU aircraft to get some currency flying there when the ship headed back to Lebanon. It meant that the Harriers could get airborne to conduct air combat in the Akrotiri Restricted Airspace and then land at Akrotiri for a refuel before more air combat and back to the ship. It also gave the pilots the opportunity to get to the NAAFI and stock up on nutty, booze and DVDs!
The VMA 542 Boat Det. Jim is third from left, back row
Eventually the ship was released from Lebanon and went back through the Suez Canal, and headed for Djibouti. After some live weapons drops on the range, the Harrier detachment managed to get the MEU to agree to them flying missions over Afghanistan while the MEU was exercising with the Pakistani Forces. It was dictated though that the Pakistani exercise would drive the 12 hour flying window of the ship, and not the live missions that the Harriers were flying. With no AAR tankers available either, it meant that the jets would take off, make the 1.5 hour flight to Afghanistan, support a mission for 20 minutes or so before heading to Kandahar Airfield for a refuel. After about 1 hour on the ground there was then generally another mission of 2.5 hours, before again refuelling at Kandahar and then another 20 minute mission before heading back to the ship and landing on at around midnight. Needless to say fatigue was a big issue, even though the pilots were flying one day on, one day off, and Jim came the closest he ever has to disaster during one of the night recoveries in the pitch black, but lived to tell the tale!
Jim and Maj 'Skippy' Baker during a refuel at Kandahar Airfield with a 'lucky charm' on of the ship's crew gave them to fly!
It was frustrating to have to leave after only 2 weeks, but the MEU was due to offload in Kuwait which meant that the Harriers were going to be able to fly missions over Basra in southern Iraq while the Meu was ashore. However, after the boat left Dubai after a short port visit, the Captain declared that the stern gate had a crack in it and would have to return to Dubai after dropping the MEU in Kuwait. Jim and one other pilot therefore arranged for a RN Sea King to come to the IWO JIMA to pick them up to go ashore to Basra for a liaison visit. Whilst ashore they arranged for the Harrier to detach to operate out of Basra Airport while the ship was away, which the UK Forces were more than happy about as they had little fast jet support down there. However, when they got back to the ship, the MEU CO declared that the Harriers would stay with the ship while it went back to Dubai, and to cap it all, none of them could have any shore leave, even though the US Navy personnel could.
It was very frustrating to miss out on all the proposed flying over Iraq, and in the end the Harriers only supported 6 days of missions, returning to the ship to refuel each time as once again there were no tankers. Instead of supporting further missions, the MEU re-embarked and all the aircraft had to be stripped down and clean and inspected before the return to the US! This was even more frustrating, as the ship was sat off Kuwait, and so in reach of Iraq, but the priority was cleaning aircraft, not supporting missions. Once cleaned, the aircraft were then pretty much strapped to the deck for the whole transit back to the US, with just 1 day of flying for currency allowed. It was a happy day on 3rd Dec 2006 when the jets flew off IWO JIMA for the last time and back to Cherry Point.
Jim en-route to Afghanistan from the IWO JIMA with Skippy as his Wingman
After his return to the squadron, Jim was told that he was going to be part of the detachment that was to deploy to Iraq for 6 months, leaving in September. Having missed the birth of his second son and only met him when he was 5 months old, and the prosepct of missing the birth of son number 3 who was due in October, Jim requested from the Appointer that he return home early. For career reasons as well, he was anxious to get back and established on the Harrier GR7 before they were withdrawn from Afghanistan. This was duely granted, and he transferred to VMA 223 to act as a senior supervisor on the squadron while their Boat Det was deployed. As Jim's family had returned to the UK before he had deployed, he spent most weekends 'on the road' with junior squadron members getting as much flight time as possible and hanging out in Savannah, Georgia.
His final task was to arrange for 16 USMC Harrier to deploy to HMS ILLUSTRIOUS which was coming to the East Coast for an exercise. This meant training the Americans how to operate the 'British Way' including ramp take-offs, single cabins and beer in the Wardroom. Having told them over and over how bad it was to be on a US ship with no Wardroom and no booze, it was a good feeling watching the CO crack a can of John Smiths in the Wardroom on ILLUSTRIOUS at 1600 in the afternoon and admit that I was right! It was a squeeze getting 16 jets on the ship, but the exercise was a great success and more importantly, there were no accidents! Jim eventually flew an AV8B for the last time in September 2007.
The Flight Deck of HMS ILLUSTRIOUS crowded with USMC Harriers
On return to the UK, Jim joined 20(R) Squadron at RAF Wittering in January 2008 for conversion to the Harrier GR9. He managed to get on the Refresher Course which meant a shorter course, but more intense due to the high workload missions that were conducted. The USMC had a mindset of medium level precision weapons which were very low workload, but the UK Harriers still trained for delivering dumb weapons at low level, in high threat environments, which meant that the learning curve was steep. He eventually managed to bluff his way through the course and was very glad to finally get up the road to RAF Cottesmore and Naval Strike Wing, the RN Harrier Squadron.
However the squadron was due to deploy to Afghanistan in the near future, and as Jim had been delayed completing the OCU, there was not enough time for him to work up and deploy with them. He was therefore transferred to IV (AC) Squadron to work up and deploy with them, to return to the RN Squadron a year later. IV was an RAF Squadron, part of Joint Force Harrier, and had several RN pilots. Jim had to start the whole process of getting Combat Ready, Pairs Leader, and all the other qualifications that the RAF love (!) and deployed with them to Davis Montham in Arizona for a heavy weapons detachment as part of the work up. He then deployed to Afghanistan in Jan 2009 on what was supposed to be the last Harrier Det to Afghanistan before the Tornado GR4s were due to take over.
Next to the rather large Paveway 3 bomb in Davis Montham. He never got to drop it as the Harrier which was due to 'lase' the target for him went U/S on start up!!
On return to the UK, IV Sqn worked up and deployed to HMS ILLUSTRIOUS which was a chance for Jim to Deck Qualify in the GR9, and for the younger pilots to fly from the boat for the first time. On completion of the boat det Jim returned back to Naval Strike Wing in July 2009 as OC B Flight, responsible for all squadron training.
The emphasis was straight away on embarked operations again, and especially the return to night flying from the carrier after a long respite due to operational commitments. Jim and 3 other of the more experienced pilots worked up with ILLUSTRIOUS and then HMS ARK ROYAL to ensure that Joint Force Harrier safely regained a night carrier capability. It was particularly dark off northern Scotland during the training, and it took a lot of belief in the aircraft instruments and the ship's controller to plunge down beneath cloud into the black void until the welcoming lights of the ship were seen.
A Harrier GR9 landing on HMS ILLUSTRIOUS during IV Squadron's detachment
In August 2010 Jim progressed to squadron Senior Pilot of what was now 800 Naval Air Squadron. He deployed with the squdron to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus for a month of Forward Air Controller Training in September 2010 which was thoroughly enjoyable and well deserved for the squadron. Sadly on October 19th 2010, the news that everyone was dreading came to fruition, and the government announced that the Harrier Force were to be disbanded. There was a stay of execution until December, but it was a very sombre couple of months, and a hard leadership challenge, but the Force made it through with no accidents, which is testament to all involved.
On Dec 14th 2010, Jim took off from RAF Wittering on an airtest, and in so doing was the last pilot to ever fly a Harrier out of RAF Wittering, home of the Harrier. He then got into another jet at RAF Cottesmore for another air test, and completed his last ever flight in a Harrier with a vertical landing onto the pad in the late evening. He had elected not to fly in the final 16 ship flypast the following day, and was a spectator for all the events on that sad day.
Waiting for another passenger to be strapped into the back seat of the Harrier T12 whilst doing passenger familiarisation flights during the last ever Harrier detachment in Cyprus.
The biggest travesty was yet to come, when the RAF were forced to mount combat operations over Libya from Italy and the UK as there was no Carrier and no Harriers which were ideally suited to the task. If only the Libya Campaign had happened 3 months earlier it could have saved both the Harrier and Ark Royal. But unlike the Falklands in 1982, Libya came just a bit too late for the Harrier.
Jim waited for redundancy, which was finally announced on 31 September 2011 and left the Royal Marines on 21st November 2011.
His claims to fame are that he is the most senior Royal Marines Officer to have never attended a staff job or staff course (21 years service) and he flew the last ever Harrier out of RAF Wittering. He remained in the cockpit for 16 years straight (had to PVR once to avoid a staff course) and all of that on the front line except when in training. He is also one of only 2 Royal Marines ever to have flown both rotary and fast jets on the front line. The other, Terence Murphy, did it the other way round, moving from jets to rotary in the 1960's!
Strapped into the front seat of the Harrier T12 in Cyprus about to conduct another passenger familiarisation flight
Leaving the Corps was a big wrench, but with the offer of Lt Cdr Flying on HMS OCEAN as his next appointment it was clear that there was no future for the more 'mature' RM jet pilot and it was time to move on. When he pointed out that he was being given another 'front line' tour after 8 years constantly on the Harrier front line he was told that it was fine as OCEAN would be going into refit in a couple of months. As it turned out she deployed to Libya for 9 months so that was a lucky escape!
In 2011 it was not a good time for airline recruitment so he tried his luck with a couple of small aircraft operations which didn't work out, so he had his papers in to rejoin the Corps in 2013 (even though the offer was to join the Fast Jet Analytical Cell in Abby Wood!). However at the last moment he was rescued by an old Sea Harrier colleague who got him into 2Excel Aviation, a specialist aviation company founded by 2 ex-RAF Harrier pilots which back then recruited mainly ex-Forces (Harrier) personnel.
Initially joining as a PA31 Navajo pilot working on interesting surveillance projects, he also took on the role of Operations Director and completed his CPL(H) to bring the company's EC135 helicopter into service. After 15 years away from rotary flying it was amazing how the muscle memory was still there and it brought a huge smile to his face to be flying a helicopter again.
Back in the saddle flying rotary again - EC135 T1
In 2018 2Excel started an exciting project to start operating 2 corporate Boeing 737-300s. Jim took the lead on the project and completed his type rating in November 2018. After an eventful CAA proving flight on the aircraft in March 2019, the B737 was added to 2Excel's AOC and commercial flights commenced. Over the last couple of years 2Excel had flown most of the Premiership football teams, several international football teams and several rock bands on summer tours.
In January 2020 Jim was awarded his command of the B737 and now flies in the left hand seat. He is the Head of large aircraft for 2Excel BroadSword, responsible for the deliver of large aircraft charter flights. After a couple of chance meetings with Damian Irving (ex-WO2 RM aviator) he recruited him to the fold in December 2018 and the two of them bore the rest of the crew with their reminiscing and dit spinning whilst down route!
Damian and Jim sampling the in-flight catering
Jim started the Flying Marines website back in 2007 when he was unable to find much information available on the history of Royal Marine aviation except for the Flying Marines book published by Alan Marsh back in 1979 (which his Mum had bought for him from a jumble sale in the 80s). With a lot of support he built a small cadre of enthusiastic ex-RM aviators who provided great input for the website.
Sadly it turned out that there weren't enough hours in the day to keep the website up to date with a lot of the information that was coming in. The design of the website was also fairly basic which meant that a lot of time would be need to do a complete redesign. However, in the meantime Colonel Michael Reece did an amazing job in compiling the updated version of the Flying Royal Marines book and John Gilbert continued to conduct in depth research.
After taking the website down in 2016 as it was in need of attention of serious attention, finally Jim got the time to redesign the website during the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020 and the new and improved Flying Marines website was re-launched in April 2020.
Flying Marines
A History of Royal Marines Aviation
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