Military Career
Military Career
Prince William is training to become a fully operational RAF Search and Rescue Pilot. The training will take approximately 18-20 months, and officers usually serve a tour of approximately 30-36 months following successful completion of training.
Owing to Prince William’s unique role in the Armed Forces given that one day he will become its Head, he retains his commissions as officers in the Royal Navy and the Army, within the Household Cavalry.
Military career
Prince William graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, known as passing out, on 15th December 2006. He took part in the Sovereign's Parade which was presided over by his grandmother The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh. The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall also attended.
He was commissioned after completing a 44-week training course at Sandhurst which is in Camberley, Surrey. During his training, William was known as Officer Cadet Wales.
To gain entry to Sandhurst, Prince William had to pass his Regular Commissions Board (RCB) which he did in October 2005.
The RCB enables senior Army assessors to find those best suited for training. The Board is demanding, and consists of a number of tests and tasks designed to assess mental, physical and emotional aptitude.
In 2007, Prince William and his brother Prince Harry visited the Defence Military Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court in Surrey, to meet injured personnel.
In December 2007, Prince William was promoted to Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals).
On 27th March 2008, Prince William and Prince Harry became Joint Patrons of the City Salute Appeal, a major open air event organised to celebrate and support this country’s armed forces and their families and to raise money for injured servicemen and women. Click here to visit the website.
On 11th April 2008, Prince William received his RAF wings from his father The Prince of Wales at RAF Cranwell after completing an intensive 12 week flying course.
Prince William became the fourth successive generation of the monarchy to become an RAF pilot. Click here to read the story and click here to watch a video of Prince William flying Tucanos and Squirrel helicopters.
On Sunday 27th April and Monday 28th April, Prince William undertook a 30-hour trip to RAF Detachments in theatre at Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan and Al Udeid, Qatar as the culmination of his attachment to the RAF. Click here to read the press release.
On 10th June, during a visit to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum open the Area of Remembrance, Prince William became Patron of the HMS Alliance Conservation Appeal.
In October 2008, The Queen appointed new Royal Air Force honorary appointments in recognition of the strong links between the Royal Air Force and the Royal Family. Prince William was appointed Honorary Air Commandant of Royal Air Force Coningsby.
In January 2010, Prince William successfully completed advanced helicopter flying training at the Defence Helicopter Flying School based at RAF Shawbury. The completion of the 12 month course is a significant step in his training to become a fully operational pilot with the Royal Air Force’s Search and Rescue Force (SARF).
Flight Lieutenant Wales completed the flying aspects of the course in December, including around 80 hours of training on the Griffin HT1 helicopter. His training included Advanced Handling; Night Flying; Emergency Handling and Tactical and Formation Flying.
Prince William is currently taking the Search and Rescue Conversion Course at RAF Valley in Wales. The Prince will first spend up to six weeks on the Search and Rescue Training Unit (SARTU) where he will continue to train in the Griffin helicopter. He will then continue his training on the Sea King Operational Conversion Unit (SKOCU), where he will train on a mixture of simulators and RAF Sea King helicopters. The course will culminate with a series of exercises during the Summer designed to test the full range of the students’ skills.
If successful on the course The Prince would become a fully operational Search and Rescue pilot with one of the six UK-based RAF SARF flights later this year. Once operational a typical tour for a pilot in the SARF is 30 to 36 months.