RAF Red Arrows chief bows out
The officer commanding the Red Arrows is leaving after three years in charge
Last updated 12th Jan 2026
The officer commanding the Red Arrows has been saying goodbye to the team and squadron at their base at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.
Wing Commander Adam Collins is leaving the RAF after nearly 28 years - 7 of which have been with the Red Arrows.
We asked him how he was feeling as he prepared to address the squadron for the last time:
"A little bit mixed emotions, to be honest. I've been in the Air Force for nearly 28 years and seven of those have been on the Red Arrows, so it's the end of two big chapters, really one of which on the team and one of which a change of career.
"So not too emotional at the moment, but I'm going to be addressing the squadron this afternoon in the hangar, it being my final day tomorrow, so I'm anticipating that's going to get quite emotional, to be honest. "
Wing Commander Collins spent two separate periods with the Reds, first acting as 'Red 10' their display commentator and safety supervisor. He says it was an interesting role:
"So the red 10 role, which I did for four years, the public really know red 10 for the voice in the face of the Red Arrows doing the commentary, meeting the public. There's very few air shows in the UK where the Red Arrows aircraft are actually based at the same place that the show takes place.
"More often than not, red 10 is the only person in a red suit the public see, but actually behind the scenes there's a lot more to that role that meets the eye. So the primary reason Red 10 is there is to supervise the show from a safety aspect. Talking to Red one on the radio heavily involved in the coordination and the planning of each of the air shows.
"Looking at the show site regards safety and how our display fits into it, so actually you're using lots of skills that you've developed over a career of fast jet flying in terms of supervision and safety and awareness and then just applying that to the display environment. So although there is a significant element of it that is the entertainment side and the inspiration side and the commentary plays a big part of that. And really it's those skills that you've developed over a career of flying and being in the RAF that you're using for that red 10 role."
After four years away on an operational role in the Middle East he returned to take command. He says it was a great honour:
"Although I was very familiar with the team, how everything works, having spent four years on it before coming in as the OC, you're looking at it from a very different perspective. You're now in the big office at the end of the corridor and and certainly through your military career, people talk about how different it feels when you're in command opposed to when you're a flight commander running a flight on a unit. So it's. It's not really until you are in the office on that first day and realise that the buck stops with you, that that, that level of responsibility for your people and the the output of your unit, you realise that that's resting on your shoulders.
"But actually that is a real privilege and and is the real highlight of this job is. I'm now looking at the big picture. It's not just the 11 pilots that are flying the aircraft. It's the almost 150 people, be their regular service people, reservists, civil servants or civilian contractors that make up the Red Arrows, and that's again something that the the public might not be really aware of is that we are a unit almost the same size as a frontline squadron. So the tip of the iceberg is what people see displaying in the UK and overseas and meeting on the ground but those people in the background, the blue suitors doing all the support roles are what really makes the the unit tick. As with any high performing team like Formula One or football, it's the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. None of the visible stuff to the public would happen without those people."
He says he has a couple of major highlights from both the jobs he did with the Red Arrows:
"One of the roles tRed 10 undertakes is photo chasing, both for practise displays. If there's another supervisor on the ground, but also important fly Pass and certainly when we do overseas tours. There's aspects of that that that Red 10 will photo chase as well. So some of the most vivid memories I have, which are imprinted on my brain forevermore, are some of the flypaths we did on the North America tour in 2019. The Golden Gate Bridge specifically is probably my favourite.
"It was one of those pictures where the photographer and I had discussed the shot that we were going for with the The Jets going over the bridge for the second time. The idea was that we accelerated ahead of the rest of the team, flew over the bridge ourselves and pulled up and turned across the path of The Jets so we would be looking head on towards the aircraft as they came over the bridge from a fairly reasonable height, and actually that picture worked out. Probably better than I'd anticipated. So there are several images from that tour that are real highlights.
"Another highlight that was slightly unusual was when the G7 summit happened down in Cornwall and we actually conducted a shortened display for 12 of the world leaders, and I was down on the beach with those world leaders giving them a personal commentary and then discussing the display and discussing aspects of soft power and the other elements that the team does when we're overseas with with twelve of the most powerful people in the world, which is quite quite a ridiculous scenario to be in one of those pinching moments which again I'll never forget."
He says when he returned to the team to take command his priorities changed:
"Despite having many sort of great memories of of flying and being at events, including flying in the coronation fly past, it's really that aspect of being in command and being responsible for all those people looking after their safety, their welfare and then the output of the team, which of course is in the public the whole time under scrutiny from the media, from all of our followers and our fans, that aspect is the most satisfying for me is is trying to do my best job that I can to look after those people, keep them safe, and then allow them to do that job that the public love."
The wing commander is now looking forward to civilian life but he'll still fly RAF aircraft as a reservist giving air cadets air experience flights. Looking back on his time with the Reds he says they are viewed by many as a 'national treasure':
"When you think about things that are stereotypically British, you think about trooping of the colour. The Red Phone box, a London taxi, Buckingham Palace, and then, along with all of those things that fly past over London for the King or the Queen's Birthday fly past and those other events that we do, it's such a British thing. It's such a stereotypically British image and it's a real privilege to be part of that. I know the Red Arrows are the thing that inspires a lot of people to join the military or to follow their aviation dreams.
"And it's funny when you join the Air Force, having even having been inspired by the Red Arrows, you almost forget about that because you're focusing on getting through basic training and then into flying training or whichever profession you've gone into. And it's not until later on in your career that that then sort of pops its head up again as a as an opportunity that you might be able to take part in.
"Really the thing for me is just the variety of what the team does, everything from inspiring and entertaining crowds at the and British air shows all the way through to engagement on the ground with everybody from young people through to world leaders. And then the things that we do when we go overseas. So the role that the public Global ambassadors, we're projecting soft power, so rather than the hard power that you would associate with frontline aircraft or troops going into an area of the world, we are projecting that soft power, which is the influence making people think about the UK influencing global leaders and Industry and and investors overseas to look at the UK because we can take that red, white and blue, paint it in the sky anywhere around the world and inspire people to to get enthused about the UK.
"So really it's that whole package of what the Red Arrows does and at the same time, of course, we're still military pilots, military engineers, logisticians administrators generally just doing this job for a few years before then going back to a more conventional job."