The air wing of the GDF was created in 1968. In 1970 it was redesignated the Air Command, GDF. The 200-member Air Command was headquartered at Camp Ayanganna in Georgetown. In the early 1990s, its five aircraft and five helicopters operated from Georgetown's Timehri Airport. The command's primary missions were transportation, communications, and liaison. Secondary missions included counternarcotics and maritime patrolling. All aircraft were civil registered. The army has been operating its aircraft commercially for decades since the formation of its air wing in 1968, in accordance with provisions set out by the Defence Board. The army’s air wing served Guyana in different capacities, including state flights, medical evacuations and humanitarian missions. The air unit accumulated substantial funds through its commercial operations, some of which included reaching the remote areas of Guyana. Funds from its commercial activities had contributed significantly to the development of the Air Corps at the time. Former GDF aeronautical engineers who were groomed by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) air wing are recommended in May 2010 that the authorities implement measures to upgrade the status of the Air Corps. In the past, engineers and pilots were among the highest paid professionals in the country, but now this was not the case. Commanding Officer of the Guyana Defence Force Air Corps, Lieutenant Colonel Courtney Byrne, said that the training of the two Officers is occurring at a time when the GDF is seeking to build capacity with regard to its air assets. “The Commander in Chief, His Excellency President David Granger, has committed to the recapitalisation of the GDF’s Air Corps. To this end, we expect to acquire assets such as fixed and perhaps rotor-wing aircraft. In this regard, we cannot wait for those assets to be acquired, but must train personnel and have them available for when those assets are on the ground,” he says. “The Air Corps has suffered significant levels of attrition over the past ten years and the training of these two officers is geared toward ensuring that we have the skills necessary for our longevity. We are currently staging in order to meet the forward thrust and to realise the Commander in Chief’s vision for our role in national security and defence.”

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Ref: globalsecurity.