ENG-1985 — Page 276

THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES

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The training commitment is two evenings and one weekend each month as well as centrally organised regimental training such as regimental camps and exercises. Regimental camps, the highlights of the year's training, take place over eight days in April and October. For the October camp, the regiment is deployed on the border to relieve a regular battalion of its anti-illegal immigration duties. During the year, selected volunteers were sent for overseas training in the United Kingdom and Singapore.

Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force

The Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force, based at Hong Kong International Airport, provides a variety of flying services for the government. It operates a fleet of seven aircraft: a twin-engined Cessna Titan, a Britten-Norman Islander, two Scottish Aviation Bulldog trainers and three Aerospatiale Dauphin twin-engined helicopters. With a self-sufficient engineering squadron and an establishment of 83 permanent staff and 140 volunteers, the RHKAAF can operate round-the-clock for seven days a week during an emergency.

In 1985, the RHKAAF responded to 407 requests for emergency medical evacuation and rescues. Some of these requests came from the local fleet of about 4 700 fishing boats, many of which now have high frequency radios enabling them to call for assistance when necessary. Several search and rescue operations were carried out, involving both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. During the dry season, the Dauphins dropped over 600 tonnes of water on bush and forest fires in areas inaccessible to conventional fire-fighting appliances. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force and the Correctional Services Department made frequent use of helicopters for training and operational purposes. Helicopter flights were routinely provided to transport engineering staff to hilltops to carry out maintenance and repair work at communications repeater stations. During the year, about 5 700 government officers were flown to various areas in the course of their duties. Flying services_were also provided to give official visitors from overseas an overview of the territory.

The Titan and Islander maintained regular offshore patrols in connection with anti- illegal immigration operations and were also heavily employed in support of the Lands Department's continuing need for aerial survey, photography and map-making. The Bulldogs provided pilot training for the squadron's own volunteers and student air traffic controllers.

Civil Aid Services

The primary role of the Civil Aid Services, a uniformed and disciplined volunteer force with an establishment of 3 671 adults and 2 626 cadets, is to support the regular emergency services in times of natural or other disasters and during emergencies. Members of the Civil Aid Services are trained to handle a wide variety of emergency situations including tropical cyclones, landslips and flooding, search and rescue, building collapses, forest fires, marine oil pollution, crowd control, and life saving. Another emergency duty involves feeding new refugee arrivals and managing camps for them.

Volunteers are enrolled into either the Operations Wing or the Administration Wing. Units within the Operations Wing are strategically situated throughout the territory, so that members can respond rapidly to any incidents which may occur in their area. The tactical force unit, comprising the emergency unit, the mountain rescue unit and the liaison unit, is a team of volunteers trained in heavy rescue that can be mobilised for duty at short notice. All of the logistic support units are grouped under the Administration Wing.

There were no territory-wide emergencies requiring the full mobilisation of the entire service in 1985. However, the CAS volunteers were heavily engaged in forest fire prevention