Question: Which base was the nicest to be posted to?

Ryan Durnall answered on 30 Apr 2024:

Hey Bethany, thanks for the question!

I’ve been permanently based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire for around 8 years now, and although I like it here, I’ve worked at many air bases around the world. I think my favourite would have to be RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands. I spent 6 months here just as the Covid pandemic was being discovered around the world in 2020. The islands are around 8,000 miles from England, and it took me around 22 hours to fly there, with a quick fuel stop in Cape Verde which is another small island off the West coast of Africa.

The Falkland Islands are very unique for a lot of reasons, but the coolest thing (in my opinion), is the unbelievable amount of wild penguins. Over a million penguins nest there every summer! The Falkland Islands are in the Southern Hemisphere, meaning it’s Summer there when it’s Winter back here at home. It was surreal walking along a beautiful white, sandy beach, with the sun shining and the temperature at 20 degrees… and also surrounded by thousands of penguins! Naturally you expect them to be surrounded by ice and snow, so it felt very weird…

We get to travel all over the world in the RAF, so it’s fairly common to have these unique experiences, even if they aren’t linked directly to the job you’re actually there to do!