Around 45 men and women from the squadron, a reserve squadron and an intrinsic part of the RAF Regiment which provides force protection of RAF assets at home and abroad, were involved in a mock exercise on the Stanford Training Area, near Mundford, last month, ahead of potentially being deployed to such war-torn places as Afghanistan and Iraq.

And complete with "Eastmere", a specially-built mock settlement meant to be a foreign village, the situation was all too real.

Lynn News photographer Paul Tibbs was lucky enough to join squadron members as they completed the final stage of their latest training.

The exercise was the culmination of three months of build-up training, the scenario which presented itself being based loosely on an Iraq/Afghanistan style operation using enemy insurgents played with gritty realism by regular RAF Marham personnel.

"The exercise saw the training build up gradually from the Saturday morning, through to a full-scale arrest operation and subsequent battle between friendly forces and enemy insurgents," said Squadron Leader Jonathan White.

"The exercise was not all about practising the tactics required to engage an enemy in a running battle; Saturday was spent focusing on the skills needed to deal with host nation civilians and the squadron was tasked with winning the hearts and minds of the locals.

"This included delivering medical and humanitarian aid, dealing with angry crowds and establishing links with local VIPs, ascertaining ways to help the local community, as well as gleaning information on local insurgents."

The accompanying video on this Lynn News website (www.lynnnews.co.uk) shows the moment when the squadron, made up of those aged between 171/2 and 45, come under fire – and also when they have to deal with a small training explosion designed to replicate a roadside bomb or mine.

In the past, squadron members have served in Northern Ireland, the Falklands islands, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The squadron has recently had people return from Afghanistan and currently has two people conducting specialist training in readiness for deployment to the country.

The squadron also currently has people serving in Iraq.

As a reserve unit, the squadron is made up mainly of volunteers, whose jobs range from builders to businessmen, county council employees to ex-soldiers.

Training takes place at RAF Marham every Wednesday evening and elsewhere one weekend per month.

"Our people must train a minimum of 27 days per year (to get their tax-free bonus of up to £1,500); most train between 35 and 50 days per year," said Sqdn Ldr White, adding that the level of pay was almost identical to a regular of the same rank.

In addition to military training, the squadron also offers extra activities such as sport, adventure training and a battlefield tour every year.