Operation Granby in the 1991 Gulf War gave 845 its first sustained desert experience, while deployments to Northern Ireland continued. In Bosnia, the squadron moved troops, senior commanders, civilians, refugees, and casualties for United Nations and NATO missions. It was the first British helicopter squadron to deploy there and the last to leave, in 2005. Commitments in Sierra Leone, the initial British deployment to Afghanistan, and the 2003 assault onto Iraq's Al-Faw Peninsula extended the same first-in pattern. Repeated rotations between Iraq and Afghanistan made the specialist amphibious squadron a persistent expeditionary transport force.
Notable Point · 34:06-37:07
First-in, last-out helicopter support after the Cold War
845 carried its first-in, last-out support role through the Gulf, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, and repeated expeditionary deployments.