Formed at Old Sarum in Wiltshire on 20 Jun 1942 as an AOP unit during WWII, it was disbanded in Germany on 15 Sep 1945.
It played a key role in the Middle East when it reformed from the amalgamation of 10 Recce Flight and 15 Liaison Flight in Cyprus in May 1958 with Alouette II and Austers. It moved to Aden around mid Jan 1961, then received its first two Scout in Mar 1964 after transit in HMS Bulwark, with 3 more arriving in May 1964. Disbanded Oct 1967.
It reformed at Netheravon in Oct 1969 with Sioux and Scout and provided roulement tours to Northern Ireland (mainly Aldergrove, but 1972 tour included detachments at Ballykelly and 1978 included Long Kesh), and further afield to Belize, Canada, Ethiopia and Norway. Disbanded Jul 1977 as part of the preparations to introduce 3 REGT into Germany.
Reformed at Soest as part of 4 REGT by renumbering 654 Squadron on 1 Apr 1978. While stationed in Soest, the unit rotated a small detachment of Scout at Omagh in NI between Oct 1978 and 1980.
It played a key role in the Middle East when it reformed from the amalgamation of 10 Recce Flight and 15 Liaison Flight in Cyprus in May 1958 with Alouette II and Austers. It moved to Aden around mid Jan 1961, then received its first two Scout in Mar 1964 after transit in HMS Bulwark, with 3 more arriving in May 1964. Disbanded Oct 1967.
It reformed at Netheravon in Oct 1969 with Sioux and Scout and provided roulement tours to Northern Ireland (mainly Aldergrove, but 1972 tour included detachments at Ballykelly and 1978 included Long Kesh), and further afield to Belize, Canada, Ethiopia and Norway. Disbanded Jul 1977 as part of the preparations to introduce 3 REGT into Germany.
Reformed at Soest as part of 4 REGT by renumbering 654 Squadron on 1 Apr 1978. While stationed in Soest, the unit rotated a small detachment of Scout at Omagh in NI between Oct 1978 and 1980.
653 Sqd AAC were based at Netheravon Airfield during the 70s and only visited Aldergrove as part of the Northern Ireland support as did all European based Squadrons. These were typically 4 month tours and Aldergrove was the base for the UK based Squadrons when in NI.
Bill Horsburgh ex ACC chef: It was the first AAC Sqdn to have a ACC chef attached to it. Just prior to it moving from Carter Bks Bulford to Netherhaven Airfield where a Regt was formed. It would be very interesting if there was anyone out there remembers this
Locations
| 1958-?? |  Kermia / Metehan |
|
| 1960-1961 | Eastern Sovereign Base Area |
|
| 1961-?? |  Falaise Camp |
|
| 1967-1969 | OYAA ADE | Aden International Airport |
| 1969-1977 | EGDN | AAC Netheravon |
| 1969-1977 | EGAA BFS | Belfast International Airport |
| 1978-1980 | Lisanelly Barracks | |
| 1978-1993 | EDLZ |  Flugplatz Soest Bad-Sassendorf |
| 1993- | EGUW | Wattisham Flying Station |
| 1999 |  Pristina Film City |
|
| 1999 | LWSK SKP |  Skopje Alexander the Great Airport |
Models
| 1964-1967 | Scout |
| 1980-?? | Lynx |
| 2009- | WAH-64 Apache |
Operations
| 21 Oct 19701970 | 19 Feb 19711971 | Operation Banner |
| 20 Aug 19721972 | 14 Dec 19721972 | Operation Banner |
| 17 Apr 19741974 | 15 Aug 19741974 | Operation Banner |
| 15 Dec 19751975 | 12 Apr 19761976 | Operation Banner |
| 12 Jun 19781978 | 13 Oct 19781978 | Operation Banner |
| 11 Jun 19801980 | 23 Oct 19801980 | Operation Banner |
| Aug 19991999 | Oct 19991999 |  KFOR (kosovo force) |
| Jan 20102010 | May 20102010 |  Operation Herrick |
| Sep 20112011 | Jan 20122012 | Operation Herrick |
| May 20132013 | Sep 20132013 | Operation Herrick |