William’s Secret Flight to Afghanistan
Prince William secretly travelled to Afghanistan to meet with British troops deployed there, it emerged today.
RAF Wings Ceremony
Earlier this month, William received his RAF wings at a ceremony held at RAF Cranwell.
The Royal Prince flew to Afghanistan in an RAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, one of five now in service at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
During the flight, William was given control of the military transporter for a segment of the journey.
Having arrived in Kandahar, the Prince stayed there for three hours before the return flight back to the UK.
A spokesman for Clarence House has said that permission for the trip had been given by both the Queen and Prince Charles.
The outbound flight began on Sunday 27th April, and continued into the following day.
“The purpose of the trip was for the prince to familiarise himself with the operations of the RAF in theatre", the spokesman for Clarence House said.
The entire trip, he added, was around 30 hours in duration and ‘passed without a hitch’.
Prince Harry Deployment
It emerged earlier in 2008 that William’s brother, Prince Harry, had been serving in Afghanistan. It was intended that his deployment would receive no media coverage, but when this changed, Harry was pulled out of the country.
Prince William is now nearing the end of his four-month-long RAF training.
Tutor, Tucano, Helicopter Training
He initially flew the RAF’s basic trainer, the Grob Tutor, before moving on to the more potent Tucano.
He then moved on to helicopters: the Squirrel and, most recently, the Chinook.
Prince William’s RAF training is intended to give him insight into the air force’s purpose, heritage, and the role it plays.
In June, the Prince will begin another temporaryattachment – this time with the Royal Navy.
Source – Armed Forces International’s Political Correspondent
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