Ministry of Defence Stafford otherwise known as MOD Stafford, Stafford Station or Beacon Barracks is a

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

site in

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

, in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was formerly Royal Air Force Stafford or more simply RAF Stafford, a non-flying

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

History

The station was originally established as the home of No. 16 Maintenance Unit in the 1930s. It became home to No 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron in 1958. The RAF Tactical Supply Wing was also formed at RAF Stafford in 1970 and operates still from MOD Stafford. An RAF Mountain Rescue Team was based at RAF Stafford.

RAF Closure

In April 2004 it was announced that units from RAF Stafford would be moved to

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire ...

, effectively closing the station. RAF Stafford officially ceased to be an RAF station on 31 March 2006 to become Beacon Barracks. However, as of August 2024, the RAF's "gate guardian" aircraft, a Harrier GR3 (pictured), remains in place. Beacon Barracks was renamed from RAF Stafford in 2006, after the

moved out. In 2013, the British Government announced the redevelopment of the barracks, to allow 16 Signal Regiment to move there, in 2015.

Based units

The following notable units are based at MOD Stafford.

British Army

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

* 1st Signal Brigade ** 16th Signal Regiment *** 230 (Malaya) Signal Squadron *** 247 (Gurkha) Signal Squadron *** Support Squadron ** 22nd Signal Regiment *** 222 Signal Squadron *** 242 (Gurkha) Signal Squadron *** 248 (Gurkha) Signal Squadron *** Support Squadron ** 37th Signal Regiment *** 48 Signal Squadron **** 898 Troop * Staffordshire & West Midlands (North Staffordshire) Army Cadet Force **C Company, Staffordshire & West Midlands (North Staffordshire) ACF ***Corps of Drums Detachment (Grenadier Guards) ***Stafford Detachment (Royal Signals)

Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S)

* DE&S Deca Stafford

Royal Air Force

Joint Aviation Command The Joint Aviation Command (JAC), previously known as Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of all three services of the British Armed Forces and unmanned aerial vehicles of the B ...

* Tactical Supply Wing RAF No. 22 Group (Training) RAF *

Royal Air Force Air Cadets The Royal Air Force Air Cadets (RAFAC) is the combined volunteer-military youth organisation sponsored by the Royal Air Force, which is formed by both the Air Training Corps and RAF Sections of the Combined Cadet Force. The organisation is head ...

** Staffordshire Wing Headquarters ** No. 395 (Stafford) Squadron ATC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford MOD Installations of the British Army Barracks in England Installations of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)