Getting an RAF station in the headlines

Is it bad news if Linton doesn't make the papers on a monthly basis I ask him? A look of mock-horror crosses his pleasant, open face:

"Monthly? More like weekly!"

One thousand people are employed at the historic base, which is the home of the RAF's fast jet training school. But it's stories about people, not planes, that Matt believes makes newspapers tick:

"Human interest, full stop," he said. "Most people aren't interested in bits of metal or technology. They're interested in the people behind the technology."

Matt, 52, is a former RAF pilot turned reservist who took his leap into PR in 2004 when he was appointed Media Communications Officer at the base. He was instantly hooked, and vowed:

"If I do this, I'm going to do this properly."

His aims were simple: to promote Linton at every opportunity, foster links with the press and public, and fend off complaints - which, even he admits, are almost inevitable if you are one of Britain's noisiest neighbours.

Matt is honest about the mixed feelings in the community:

"There are those who would have us closed down tomorrow because they hate noisy aircraft. But we are doing our job, and if the community know the importance of low flying training, they will understand and support us," he said.

Matt has a tireless determination to feed the press cracking human interest stories that give the base a friendly face. He developed what he calls the 'Linton model' - one of a number of initiatives that reaches out to the local community by visiting deprived schools to mentor children with team building and anti-bullying workshops:

"The kids had been told they were rubbish and believed it," he said.

But soon the effects of the Linton model began to pay off, and respect soared among parents:

"It hit home that we were doing things that really helped their kids," said Matt.

"Recently, we've held Second World War days for kids. Nine- and ten-year-olds were thrilled to sit in a plane, wave to the pilots, sit in the fire engine and play with the siren.

"They met veterans and learned about the war through the eyes of a pilot. It was priceless."

It was not only the children who were charmed, he said:

"Teachers aren't usually the biggest fans of the military, yet they'd come up and say, 'That was fantastic. Thank you so much'."

Problem-solving fascinates Matt, which he sees as fun:

"My job is to make Linton look better in the community," he said.

When the production team behind the television series 'Heartbeat' complained that low flying was ruining their shots, Matt solved the situation by advising them to couch their complaint in the relevant MOD lingo.

Even Matt's interest in sport has proved useful. He visited Yorkshire Cricket Club to give a talk on team building, and when Australia's national rugby squad were given a day off during the last World Cup, they dropped in, shadowed by a TV crew from Sky Sports:

"You can't buy that kind of publicity," he said.

Surprisingly, Matt did not study PR or media matters but learned by trial and error. It was an eye-opener when Prince Andrew came up to present new squadron colours, and no journalists appeared to be interested.

Deeply disappointed at the response to his run-of-the-mill press release, he rang the news editor of a regional paper who politely advised that royal visits were 'ten-a-penny'.

Then Matt casually mentioned that veterans were going. Suddenly, the editor's attitude changed:

"Veterans? Do you mean war veterans? What time... ?

"So what I thought was the story, wasn't the story," he explained.

Keen to learn, Matt spent a week helping out at the Yorkshire Post. It turned into a media master class which tuned him into the journalists' mentality.

When Matt asked how to bag the front page, the news editor said 'Get me the Red Arrows flying over York Minister and I'll guarantee you the cover'.

It took three months to pull off, but Matt did it. And they were in perfect formation. Now, Matt has the framed front page hanging in the tearoom. Beneath it is the dedication, 'From your friends, the Yorkshire Post':

"Getting the RAF in the public eye, and keeping it there, is massively important," said Matt. "If people don't know we exist - and a lot don't - we don't get the support when we need it for operational or political reasons."

But some military colleagues are still suspicious that the press will 'stitch them up'. Better, they think, to remain silent and isolated behind the base gate guard. Fortunately, he is backed by Linton's Station Commander, Group Captain Mike Longstaff, who is proud of the sheer scale of coverage achieved.

He said:

"The value of positive publicity cannot be overestimated and it is vital that we keep RAF Linton-on-Ouse and the wider RAF in the public eye as much as possible. This may be a small station, but people make stories, and I find it amazing how many interesting tales we find to tell."

The Station Commander was, no doubt, very pleased with the story that Matt considers his greatest success.

When a civilian light aircraft pilot sent out a mayday call, reporting that he had lost his sight, Linton's air traffic controller came to the rescue and guided him down, with the help of a Tucano that flew near the Cessna.

Thanks to Matt, the story made headlines around the world.

It is fair to say that Matt is no wallflower, but that is not what good PR is about:

"Everything I do gets in somewhere," he said.

He has 12 hefty volumes of press cuttings, and opens one to reveal a neatly clipped story about a piece he had packaged for the Daily Express. It was about a Luftwaffe veteran who visited Bath for a final, poignant visit. 'Luftwaffe pilot's dying wish to say sorry to the city he bombed', ran the headline.

"If I go into something, I go in 100 per cent," says Matt. "I'm not an ex-flyer stuck in the past. This is what I do now. I take the pictures, write the words, and if I've got something that I'm pleased with, it's a huge buzz."

And with that Matt drains his coffee, looks at his watch and rises, already planning his next headline.

Lowdown on Linton

• RAF Linton-on-Ouse was built as a bomber airfield and opened in May 1937 as the home of No 4 Group Headquarters. The Air Officer Commanding was Air Commodore A T Harris. Later he became Marshal of the RAF, and was better known as Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris.
• Linton's other famous son was Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC. One night in 1940, Cheshire, then a pilot officer, brought back a Whitley bomber with a 12-foot (3.6-metre) hole ripped in the fuselage. The whole station turned out to watch him land his crippled aircraft safely, which earned the pilot the first of three DSOs. Cheshire later returned to Linton as Commanding Officer of No 76 Squadron.
• RAF Linton is one of the busiest airfields in the country, training future fast jet pilots for the RAF and Royal Navy and Weapons Officers for the RAF. Every year around 50 new RAF pilots earn their wings at the base.
• Pilots train on Tucano planes. In 2008, Prince William spent three months at Linton learning to fly.

This article is taken from the November 2009 edition of Defence Focus - the magazine for everyone in Defence.