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Commando fliers ensure Ten Tors event runs without a hitch
11 May 2026
Royal Navy aviators ensured one of the biggest youth events in south-west England ran smoothly over the weekend.
As they have done for more than 35 years, the Commando Helicopter Force loaned personnel and aircraft to the British Army-run Ten Tors, a huge test of orienteering, leadership and independence for teenagers.
Yeovilton-based CHF has been supporting the event since 1988, performing varied duties: delivering personnel to remote checkpoints, moving supplies around, evacuating casualties should anyone suffer a mishap on the moor.
For air and ground crew it’s useful training – operating in austere conditions from a makeshift forward base (a Helicopter Landing Site), providing 24-hour cover with changeable weather and flying over the difficult terrain of the moorland.
Reservists from the Mobile Air Operations Team ran the landing site, while the front-line fliers of 845 Naval Air Squadron provided the Merlin Mk4, air and ground crew.
As well as crucial support for the Tors competitors and staff, the CHF participants have to work closely with local farmers to minimise the environmental impact and ensure they do not establish their landing sites near the nesting areas of rare birds.
Some 440 six-strong teams of young people threw their hats into the ring for the 2026 event, watched over the two-day trek by upwards of 6,000 spectators.
They set off on Saturday at 7am across 32 routes covering distances of 35, 45 or 55 miles depending on the age of the participants, passing through check points along the way, camping overnight and reaching the finishing line by 5pm on Sunday afternoon.
There is also a one-day ‘Jubilee challenge’ for young people with a range of physical, neurological or educational challenges.