Can members of the parachute regiment become Forward Air Controllers

Hi Tom,

The Parachute Regiment doesn’t have Forward Air Controllers (FAC) or Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) as a trade, however there you could either go to another regiment on an attachment for a couple of years, or join a regiment that does have that trade.

The trade sits under the Royal Artillery within its Gun regiments, and within the Light Cavalry. If you want to go Air Assault then you could look to join 7 PARA Royal Horse Artillery as a JTAC.

It is a great trade, really interesting, great fun, and with some awesome training opportunities overseas. It is quite a challenging course to pass but so long as you train and practice you’ll be fine. Often people find it useful to train as a Forward Observer in a Gun Regiment first as this gives you a great introduction to joint fires and their integration into the ground commanders plan.

If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask.

Katie