RAF Shawbury is set in a lovely semi-rural area about 0.5 miles from Shawbury village where there are a good range of shops and amenities and also excellent links to Shrewsbury, Telford, Chester, Birmingham and the M54/M6. RAF Shawbury in Shropshire trains around 1,000 students a year from across the UK Armed Services and international partners to be robust, resilient military personnel, technically second to none. No. 1 Flying Training School trains aircrew for the Royal Navy, British Army and the Royal Air Force. The Central Flying School (Helicopter) delivers the next generation of helicopter instructors. The Defence College of Air and Space Operations (DCASO), recently formed on 1 Jan 2019, bringing together the School of Aerospace Battle Management (SABM) at RAF Boulmer and the School of Air Operations Control (SAOC) at RAF Shawbury. The College trains the next generation of air traffic controllers, flight operations personnel and is a worldwide centre of excellence on leading-edge battlespace management training and education. In addition, it delivers pre-deployment training to those about to deploy on operations as well as training selected personnel as instructors. There are approximately 1,200 personnel working at RAF Shawbury, around 500 Service personnel supported by MOD civilian and contractor colleagues. The website for RAF Shawbury is: www.raf.mod.uk/rafshawbury
There are walking, biking and horse riding opportunities locally around The Wrekin, Long Mynd and north Shropshire hills. Boat enthusiasts can explore the canals near Market Drayton and Whitchurch and there are many attractions for children such as the Severn Valley Railway and Hoo Farm Dinosaur World as well as many historic houses, castles and gardens in the vicinity. The world famous Ironbridge Gorge can be found just south of Telford and Hawstone Park with its caves, cliffs and follies, plus two 18 hole golf courses, is just a short drive from the base.
