Captain Harry Wales

His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales has been promoted to Captain within the Army Air Corps in recognition of time service in the Armed Forces.

Prince Harry – now known as Captain Harry Wales in the military – was also awarded his Apache Badge from the Officer in Command of his Squadron on Thursday 14th April, marking the completion of the eight month Apache Conversion to Type (CTT) Course.

Prince Harry is now qualified to fly the aircraft without an instructor and has progressed to a further eight month weapons handling course in order to become a fully operational Army Air Corps Pilot.

The timing of HRH’s promotion to Captain and the completion of the Apache CTT course are coincidental.

Prince Harry will now progress to the Apache Conversion to Role course where he will learn to operate the aircraft and its weapons systems in a variety of challenging operational scenarios. The Prince will be based at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk and undertake a section of the training in the United States of America.

The Apache AH Mark One fleet consists of 67 aircraft and a number of these are deployed very successfully in Afghanistan in support of UK and Coalition forces. It is a multi role aircraft providing close combat attack, escort and support to other operations.

The Apache Attack Helicopter is designed to hunt and destroy armoured vehicles. Apache can operate in all weathers, day and night, and can detect, classify and prioritise up to 256 potential targets in seconds through its Fire Control Radar. It carries a mix of weapons, including rockets, Hellfire missiles and a 30mm chain gun.