Page 117 - Demo

117%u0005%u0004%u0010%u0006%u000c%u0001%u001a%u0007%u0009%u0006#%u0007%u000b%u0006%u000b%u0006%u000c%u000f%u0005%u0004%u0010%u0006%u0008%u0006ffi%u0004%u0010$%u000c%u0006%u0004%u0007%u0001%u0006%u0008%u0001%u0009%u00063B%u0006%u0009(B%u0016%u00063%u0017%u001399%u0006%u0019%%u0015/-+%u0017%u0006Geoff Brindle joined the RAF in 1964 and flew Lightnings (Nos 2, 56 and 11 Sqns) before switching to Phantoms and commanding Nos 56 and 23 Sqns and RAF Wildenrath. Staff appointments included stints at MOD, HQs 11 Gp, STC and AAFCE and twice in Oman, 1984?86 with SOAF and 1996?2004 with RAFO. He is currently involved in the management of air displays at home and abroad and has been the Display Director for RIAT at Fairford. %u0007/%u0016%%u0013-4&%u0016%u0015%u0013/ Oman%u2019s geostrategic location at the entry point of the Strait of Hormuz and its lengthy coastline overseeing the traditional trade routes has long attracted the interests of foreign powers. Historically, Oman has perforce relied on the influence of these foreign powers to ensure political stability both regionally and, in certain circumstances, domestically. Relations with the British date back to 1798 when the first treaty of friendship was concluded between the Sultan of Muscat and the British Government of India. British interests in Oman were predicated on Whitehall%u2019s concern with the defence of India and the imperatives of maintaining secure trade routes and containing the expansion of other European powers in the Indian Ocean. Thus the first British naval and military inputs into Oman were tied up with the security of the East India Company and of British rule in India. Following the discovery of the potential for using oil as fuel, and later the conversion of the British naval fleet from coal8fired ships to oil8fired ships in 1911, the security of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz gained increasing importance. Royal Air Force air power was widely used throughout the region in the aftermath of the First World War, peacekeeping in Iraq, Trans8Jordan and on the North West frontier as well as surveillance of the Gulf coastal regions. In support of this a series of relief landing grounds was established around the