Many ships and squadrons in the Royal Navy fervently believe they are special – and some have good reason to make that claim.

But there can be little disputing the fact that 824 Naval Air Squadron is unique in many respects.

The squadron was commissioned in 2001 to train aircrew and engineers in every aspect of the Navy’s new Merlin helicopter.

And at present 824 has a responsibility which stretches from the training of the people who maintain the engines to the provision of front-line aircraft for deployed warships, a very unusual breadth of interest for a single group.

All of which means that Lt Cdr Kevin Mathieson has a rather more extensive unit to command than is the case elsewhere – the number of men and women on the roll, including trainees, is in excess of 500, and he has a fleet of 12 Merlin Mk 1s as well as real estate at RN air station Culdrose in Cornwall worth in the order of £750 million.

The current shape of the squadron has been an evolution rather than a revolution – a logical move towards an organisation capable of handling all personnel training issues for the introduction of the first completely new Royal Navy aircraft for decades.

But the most important factor in the squadron is the quality of staff and students, according to the boss.

“I’m very lucky as I have no weak links here, and that’s what makes it work,” said Lt Cdr Mathieson.

“Without the calibre of people both wanting to learn and teaching, it would not work at all – certainly on the development side of the simulators and the curriculum.

“Without the sheer hard work of the staff we would not have been able to start training.

“And the calibre of students we have had through here has been outstanding – generally they are really well-motivated.”

Much of the motivation comes from being in at the very start of a new and impressive piece of kit – a “quantum leap” from the Sea King, in Lt Cdr Mathieson’s eyes.

With a large tranche of people needing to learn about the machine, either from scratch or converting from the Sea King, it made sense to base all the training in one place and link up the various facets where possible.

And from there it was a short step to linking the training phase to the early stages of the Merlin’s operational life – a development which should pay rapid dividends when other squadrons take delivery of the aircraft.

When a pilot, or aircrew member, or engineer goes to a front-line squadron in the coming years, they will be bumping up against people they have either trained with or worked with at 824, bringing a cohesion to the entire Merlin fleet.

824 Squadron has three distinct elements.

The Merlin Training Facility (MTF) is a huge leap forward, with many slabs of “chalk and talk” lectures replaced by computer-based lessons using CD-ROMs and powerful simulators.

Thus a group of trainees will follow a particular module on screen, with each testing him or herself at the end; a failure to have grasped the point of the module will require another stab at it, and it is possible for individual lectures to be studied outside the classroom by borrowing the relevant disks.

While following the course syllabus, students can work at their own pace to achieve their targets.

Once the theory has been established, with the help of graphics and video, students can move straight on to the simulators and full-size practice rigs with confidence.

Specifically for the engineers are two stripped-down Merlins, the Mechanical Systems Trainer (MST) and the Weapons System Trainer (WST).

These are in essence the top half (MST) and bottom half (WST) of the Merlin, complete with fully-functioning systems which can be worked on by trainees, and manipulated by staff to introduce problems and faults.

The WST, from the cabin floor downwards, allows students to work on the landing gear, hydraulics system, deck lock, sonobuoy dispenser and Active Dipping Sonar, as well as the loading and unloading of weapons – all inside a brightly-lit building within a short walk of the classrooms.

The MST fulfils the same role for engines and rotor assemblies, and allows aircrew to familiarise themselves with the Merlin layout before they handle the real thing.

Three Rear Crew Trainers (RCTs) offer exact replicas of the Merlin cabin, allowing students to practise tactics in an environment which will allow an almost seamless progression to operational aircraft.

And for those up front is the Cockpit Dynamic Simulator (CDS), a facility which would not look out of place in a science fiction movie.

Within this hi-tech globe, supported by various wire and pipe umbilicals and accessed across a gantry, is an exact replica of the cockpit of the Merlin, through the windscreen of which can be seen a range of realistic scenes.

While pilot and observer go through their pre-flight checks, for example, a virtual Flight Deck Officer waits patiently by the hangar door of the virtual Type 23 frigate, while a virtual sea sluices past the virtual hull.

And when the students have reached the appropriate point in their course, the CDS and RCTs can be linked, allowing the whole team to go through simulated missions under the eyes of staff in a control room.

Apart from considerable savings – there is no need to run expensive fuel-burning aircraft for repetitive basic training processes – the beauty of having everything on site is that feedback becomes a powerful tool in tuning up the system.

The early courses have made significant contributions to the shape and pace of the training curriculum, acting as guinea pigs and reaping the benefit of tailoring the course to what they need.

In order to allow for the occasional ‘blind alley’ or fruitless exercise, early courses through 824’s training wing have been slightly extended to ensure there is no disadvantage to students.

It also means the curriculum is bang up-to-date, with Merlin crews who took part in the conflict in Iraq feeding their observations and experiences back to the squadron.

A short stroll away from the training area is the second element of 824 – the HQ, which handles the flying side of the operation and thus is responsible for all flying training of Merlin aircrew.

Once the ground training phase has been completed, the students move on to the airborne syllabus, which starts with the basic elements of flying the Merlin, including navigation, radar, search and rescue techniques and multi-tasking, then on to operational tactics, which covers sonics, the datalink, stores and weapons systems.

Once that phase has been mastered the students are ready to join a front-line squadron.

Merlin squadrons are in a state of flux as the aircraft begins to realise its full potential – for example, 700 NAS is shortly to become 824 OEU, the Operational Evaluation Unit, helping to develop the training curriculum.

And it is the third element of 824 NAS which is likely to be affected soonest – the single-ship flights which look after Merlins assigned to deployed frigates.

Two Type 23s have their own Merlins, HM ships Monmouth and Lancaster, giving the squadron its front-line capability, and three more flights are in the process of forming, but it is planned that these individual ship flights will be covered by a new squadron, 829.

It is easy to forget, in amongst all the innovation and reorganisation, what is at the heart of all the activity – a highly-capable aircraft which is winning plaudits from all who work with it.

“I’m an instructor here, and I love the Merlin,” said Lt Cdr Mathieson. “I have flown several aircraft, including American ones, and it is the most fun to fly, and also by far the most capable.

“There’s nothing flying in the world today that is as capable or advanced. It is a real feather in the cap of British industry.

“It is faster than the Lynx and far more manoeuvrable than the Sea King – it’s very nimble for its size and yet very powerful.

“People should look forward to coming to us. The programme has finally kicked off, the doors are open and we are welcoming people with open arms to what is a great training programme.”

Among those on the early stages of the training programme – on Merlin Course 1/02, the first ab initio (‘from the start’, as opposed to conversion from the Sea King) Operational Conversion Course for the Merlin – are a group of students who are phlegmatic about alterations to their curriculum as the wrinkles are ironed out.

A mix of pilots, observers and aircrew, they find less of a gulf between themselves and instructors than would be the case in a well-established course on an older aircraft, as they are both in new territory, and the students can thus help shape the training pattern.

Lt Lauren Hulston said: “They have relied on us to correct some things in lessons – we have got quite an input into how the next course will be taught, and they are listening.”

The students have many reasons for wanting to fly in the Merlin – all appreciate how capable it is, and one, Lt James Finn, said that when one crashed off the Scottish coast the flight crew escaped relatively unscathed.

Lt Finn said he was impressed by the robust nature of the Merlin, dubbing it “the Volvo of the air...”

That enthusiasm is reflected in the attitude of those who remain on the ground, including maintainers who are on Part 4 training in the spacious hangars, and who benefit just as much from the integrated nature of the squadron as those who actually fly the Merlin.

AEM Glenn Rea said: “We learn a lot working in an actual squadron, working with experienced lads – we probably learn quite a lot that way.

“It is good training – we are taken to a very high level. It was a good move for me coming here.”

The structure of 824 NAS also means that students do not train in isolation from the operational tempo of the front line – they are immediately aware of the patterns of squadron life, which will help them adapt when they join other units.