MOD Stafford

---

title: "MOD Stafford" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["stafford", "installations-of-the-british-army", "barracks-in-england", "installations-of-the-ministry-of-defence-(united-kingdom)", "military-installations-established-in-1938"] description: "Ministry of Defence site in Stafford, in England" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOD_Stafford" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Ministry of Defence site in Stafford, in England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military installation"]

Field	Value
name	MOD Stafford
Beacon Barracks
partof
location	Stafford, Staffordshire
nearest_town
country	England
image	Gate Guardian RAF Stafford.jpg
alt	Beacon Barracks' gate guardian is a Hawker Siddeley Harrier.
caption	Beacon Barracks' gate guardian is a Hawker Siddeley Harrier
image2	File:MinistryofDefence.svg
type	Military barracks and support establishment
coordinates
pushpin_map	Staffordshire
pushpin_map_caption	Location within Staffordshire
pushpin_label	MOD Stafford
pushpin_label_position	left
ownership	Ministry of Defence
operator
controlledby
open_to_public
site_other_label
site_other
site_area	165 hectares
code
built
used	2006–present
height
length
fate
current_commander
past_commanders
garrison
occupants
footnotes
::

| name = MOD Stafford Beacon Barracks | ensign = | ensign_size = | native_name = | partof = | location = Stafford, Staffordshire | nearest_town = | country = England | image = Gate Guardian RAF Stafford.jpg | alt = Beacon Barracks' gate guardian is a Hawker Siddeley Harrier. | caption = Beacon Barracks' gate guardian is a Hawker Siddeley Harrier | image2 = File:MinistryofDefence.svg | alt2 = | caption2 = | type = Military barracks and support establishment | coordinates = | gridref = | pushpin_map = Staffordshire | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Staffordshire | pushpin_label = MOD Stafford | pushpin_label_position = left | pushpin_mark = | pushpin_marksize = | ownership = Ministry of Defence | operator = | controlledby = | open_to_public = | site_other_label = | site_other = | site_area = 165 hectares | code = | built = | used = 2006–present | builder = | materials = | height = | length = | fate = | condition = | battles = | events = | current_commander = | past_commanders = | garrison = | occupants = | website = | footnotes = Ministry of Defence Stafford otherwise known as MOD Stafford, Stafford Station or Beacon Barracks is a Ministry of Defence site in Stafford, in England. It was formerly Royal Air Force Stafford or more simply RAF Stafford, a non-flying Royal Air Force station.

History

The station was originally established as the home of No. 16 Maintenance Unit in the 1930s. It became home to No 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron in 1958. The RAF Tactical Supply Wing was also formed at RAF Stafford in 1970 and operates still from MOD Stafford. An RAF Mountain Rescue Team was based at RAF Stafford.

RAF Closure

In April 2004 it was announced that units from RAF Stafford would be moved to RAF Wittering, effectively closing the station. RAF Stafford officially ceased to be an RAF station on 31 March 2006 to become Beacon Barracks. However, as of August 2024, the RAF's "gate guardian" aircraft, a Harrier GR3 (pictured), remains in place.

Beacon Barracks was renamed from RAF Stafford in 2006, after the Royal Air Force moved out. In 2013, the British Government announced the redevelopment of the barracks, to allow 16 Signal Regiment to move there, in 2015.

Based units

The following notable units are based at MOD Stafford.

British Army

Royal Corps of Signals

• 1st Signal Brigade
  • 16th Signal Regiment
    • 230 (Malaya) Signal Squadron
    • 247 (Gurkha) Signal Squadron
    • Support Squadron
  • 22nd Signal Regiment
    • 222 Signal Squadron
    • 242 (Gurkha) Signal Squadron
    • 248 (Gurkha) Signal Squadron
    • Support Squadron
  • 37th Signal Regiment
    • 48 Signal Squadron
      • 897 Troop
• Staffordshire & West Midlands (North Staffordshire) Army Cadet Force
  • C Company, Staffordshire & West Midlands (North Staffordshire) ACF
    • Corps of Drums Detachment (Grenadier Guards)
    • Stafford Detachment (Royal Signals)

[[Defence Equipment and Support|Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S)]]

• DE&S Deca Stafford

Royal Air Force

Joint Aviation Command

• Tactical Supply Wing RAF

No. 22 Group (Training) RAF

• Royal Air Force Air Cadets
  • Staffordshire Wing Headquarters
  • No. 395 (Stafford) Squadron ATC

References

References

1. (3 July 2009). "Defence Estates Development Plan (DEDP) 2009 - Annex A". Ministry of Defence.
2. "History of Stafford".
3. "No 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron". RAF Lichfield.
4. "RAF Stafford Mountain Rescue Team". Staffordshire Past Track.
5. "MOD Stafford Beacon Barracks".
6. (28 January 2023). "British soldier accused of terror offences appears in court".
7. (28 October 2014). "MOD Stafford Beacon Barracks".
8. (10 January 2014). "Plan for 300 soldier homes at Stafford's Beacon Barracks". BBC.
9. Lancaster, Mark. (29 November 2018). "Army:Written question - 194616".
10. "395 (Stafford)".
11. administrator. (2022-11-03). "Key MOD strategic asset to merge into Defence Equipment & Support".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::