Prince William To Serve With Navy and RAF

Prince William is to serve on attachment to the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force next year, Clarence House.

The Prince is currently serving as an armoured reconnaissance troop leader with the Household Cavalry Regiment.

The four-month secondment with the RAF begins in January. The 25-year-old prince will follow in his father Prince Charles' footsteps by learning to pilot helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

Following his spell with the RAF, William will then be attached to the Royal Navy next summer, where he will spend time gaining an understanding of the fullest spectrum of the Royal Navy's capabilities, from submarines to the ships of the surface fleet, as well as the Fleet Air Arm.

A statement released by Clarence House said: "The attachments are primarily designed to familiarise Prince William with the structures, capabilities and ethos of the RAF and the Royal Navy. He will be able to share the working lives of airmen and sailors, and to make comparisons with his own experience to date as an Army officer.

"His time with the RAF will also allow him to realise a lifetime ambition to learn to fly."

Prince William was commissioned into The Blues and Royals from The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in December 2006. During his time with the regiment, William has successfully passed an intensive, specialist armoured reconnaissance troop leaders' course at Bovington in Dorset.

He has spend much of the year experiencing regimental life in the Household Cavalry, where, as a 'Cornet' (Second Lieutenant) he commands a troop of four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles, crewed by 12 men.

William's father, the Prince of Wales, also trained as a jet pilot, at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, and went on to command the Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Bronington.

(KMcA)