Chris Harper (RAF officer)

Last updated

Sir Christopher Harper
Air Marshal C N Harper.jpg
Air Marshal Harper in Kabul, November 2009
Born (1957-03-25) 25 March 1957 (age 66)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Air Force
Years of service1976–2017
Rank Air Marshal
Commands held No. 1 Group (2007–09)
RAF Coltishall (1999–01)
No. 41(F) Squadron (1994–97)
Battles/wars Operation Deny Flight
Operation Northern Watch
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Mentioned in Despatches
Other workHonorary Air Commodore, No. 2620 (County of Norfolk) Squadron (2017–)

Air Marshal Sir Christopher Nigel Harper, KBE (born 25 March 1957) is a senior Royal Air Force officer, who served as the UK Military Representative to NATO and the European Union from 2011 to 2013 and as Director General of the NATO International Military Staff from 2013 to 2016. He was previously Deputy Commander Allied Joint Force Command at Brunssum in the Netherlands (2009–11), and Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group in the UK (2007–09).

Contents

Education and personal

Harper was educated at Alleyn's School in Dulwich and King's College London (MA, Defence Studies). He is married with one son and enjoys flying, shooting, running, riding motorcycles and gastronomy. [1]

Career

Harper was commissioned as an acting pilot officer after winning the Sword of Honour at Initial Officer Training in 1976; [2] he regraded to pilot officer the following year. [3] He was promoted to flying officer in 1978; [4] and posted to 41(F) Squadron in 1979 for his first tour on the SEPECAT Jaguar. [1] Promoted to flight lieutenant in 1982, [5] he served as a Qualified Weapons Instructor on the Jaguar with No. 31 and No. 14 Squadrons before an exchange tour with the Canadian Air Force flying the McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet. [1] He was promoted to squadron leader in 1986, [6] and gained a Master of Arts in Defence Studies from King's College London in 1993. Promoted to wing commander in 1993, [7] he returned to command No. 41(F) Squadron between 1994 and 1997; he was actively involved in operations over Bosnia during this period. [1] Having been promoted to group captain at the end of this tour, [8] he maintained his connection with the Jaguar force by returning to RAF Coltishall from 1999 to 2001 as Station Commander and Jaguar Force Commander. Throughout this period the Jaguar Force was involved in operations over Iraq. [1] Harper was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2002 New Year Honours List [9] and later that year was Mentioned in Despatches for action while over Northern Iraq. [10]

Promoted to air commodore in 2002, [11] Harper served as Air Commodore Typhoon at No. 1 Group, [1] before becoming the first Director of Joint Commitments at the Ministry of Defence in 2004. [12] Following promotion to air vice marshal in 2005, [13] he was appointed Chief of Staff Operations [14] at what became RAF Air Command. In 2007 he returned to No. 1 Group as Air Officer Commanding, [15] [16] following which he was promoted to air marshal and appointed Deputy Commander, NATO Allied Joint Force Command, Brunssum in March 2009. [17]

Harper was appointed the UK Military Representative to NATO and the EU in March 2011 [18] [19] and promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in June 2011. [20] He was elected to be the Director-General of the International Military Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on 24 July 2013. [21] He handed over his command of the International Military Staff to Lieutenant General Jan Broeks in July 2016. [22]

In 2002, Harper became Honorary President of No 1475 (Dulwich) Squadron Air Training Corps based in South East London. Following his retirement from the RAF in 2017, Air Mshl Harper became the Honorary Air Commodore of No 2620 (County of Norfolk) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, based at RAF Marham, he was made a Non-Resident Senior fellow of the Atlantic Council of the United States of America in the same year. He was appointed in 2018 as a Trustee of the Air League [23] and subsequently became the organisation's President in December 2020. In 2019 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS); he serves as a Committee member of the Society's Air Power Group. He is a member of the Munich Security Conference’s Innovation Board, the Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group and the Alphen Group. Harper is the founder and managing director of CH4C Global Ltd, a small independent company that provides bespoke consultancy services to organisations working in international defence, security, aviation, aerospace, Space and technology.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Johns</span> Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal (born 1939)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edward Johns, is a retired senior Royal Air Force commander. He was a fighter pilot in the 1960s, commanding officer of a squadron during the 1970s and a station commander in the 1980s. Johns served as one of three British directors of operations on the senior planning staff for Operation Granby in 1991 and then acted as a supporting commander for joint operations in the Balkans in 1994. As Chief of the Air Staff he advised the British Government on the air force aspects of the Strategic Defence Review and on NATO's air campaign in Kosovo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Torpy</span> Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal (born 1953)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Lester Torpy, is a retired senior Royal Air Force (RAF) commander. He was a fast jet pilot in the late 1970s and 1980s, saw active service during the Gulf War and then went on to higher command. He was the air component commander on Operation Telic and served as Chief of the Air Staff, the professional head of the RAF, from 2006 to 2009. In that role Torpy hosted the RAF's biggest air display in two decades, and argued for consolidation of all British air power in the hands of the RAF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Moran</span> Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal (1956-2010)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Hugh Moran, was a fast jet pilot and later a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. He was Commander-in-Chief of Air Command at the time of his unexpected death.

Air Marshal David Walker, was a senior Royal Air Force officer. He was the Deputy Commander, Allied Joint Force Command at Brunssum in the Netherlands from 2011 to 2013, having previously served for over three years as Deputy Commander, Allied Air Component Command at Ramstein in Germany. Prior to that appointment he was Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Garwood</span>

Air Marshal Sir Richard Frank Garwood, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Stewart (RAF officer)</span> British Royal Air Force officer

Air Commodore Ian Richard William Stewart is a retired British Royal Air Force officer. His last posting was as the United Kingdom National Military Representative at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. He was Commandant Air Cadets between 2008 and 2010, and Air Commodore, Royal Air Force Reserve from 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Peach</span> Retired British Royal Air Force officer

Air Chief Marshal Stuart William Peach, Baron Peach, is a British retired senior Royal Air Force officer. After training as a navigator, Peach commanded IX (Bomber) Squadron and then became Deputy Station Commander RAF Bruggen. He was deployed as NATO Air Commander (Forward) in Kosovo in 2000. He went on to be Chief of Defence Intelligence in 2006, Chief of Joint Operations in 2009 and the first Commander of Joint Forces Command in December 2011 before being appointed Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in May 2013. Peach succeeded General Sir Nick Houghton as Chief of the Defence Staff on 14 July 2016. He succeeded General Petr Pavel as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee on 29 June 2018, serving as such until his retirement from NATO in June 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Dalton</span> Royal Air Force air marshal

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Gary George Dalton, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Air Force and former Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry North</span>

Air Marshal Sir Barry Mark North, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer, who served as Deputy Commander (Personnel) at RAF Air Command. A helicopter pilot, North has held command appointments at all levels, notably No. 78 Squadron in the Falkland Islands, the Special Forces Flight as a squadron leader and the newly established No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group in the Middle East as an air commodore.

Air Marshal Sir Timothy Michael Anderson, is a retired senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer. He served as the inaugural Director-General of the UK Military Aviation Authority (MAA) from 2010 to 2013. The MAA was established in response to the Haddon-Cave Review into the issues surrounding the loss of an RAF Nimrod over Afghanistan in September 2006. Earlier in his career, Anderson was a fast jet pilot, primarily flying the Tornado ground attack aircraft, and as Officer Commanding No. 14 Squadron led the United Kingdom's Tornado commitment to Operation Allied Force, the NATO air campaign over Kosovo in 1999, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He is currently Chairman of the UK Airspace Change Organising Group Steering Committee, overseeing a national infrastructure programme on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport and the UK Civil Aviation Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Pulford</span>

Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Douglas Pulford, is a retired senior Royal Air Force (RAF) commander. A helicopter pilot with operational service in Northern Ireland, the Falklands War and Iraq War, Pulford commanded RAF Odiham and No. 2 Group, and served as Assistant Chief of Defence Staff Operations, before taking up the post of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Personnel at Air Command and Air Member for Personnel in 2010. He became Chief of the Air Staff on 31 July 2013, retiring from the Royal Air Force on 12 July 2016.

Air Vice Marshal Francis Frederic Inglis, was an officer in the Royal Air Force who became the head of RAF Intelligence Staff during the Second World War, reporting to Winston Churchill. In 1942 he was sent to America, where he successfully persuaded President Franklin D. Roosevelt to direct the main American war effort against Germany rather than Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Stringer</span>

Air Marshal Edward Jackson Stringer, is a senior Royal Air Force officer. Since April 2018 he has served as Director-General of the Defence Academy. He also served as Director-General of Joint Force Development, Strategic Command from April 2018 to March 2021. He served as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff from April 2013 to January 2015, and as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) from March 2015 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell La Forte</span>

Air Commodore Russell William "Russ" La Forte, is a senior Royal Air Force officer. He served as Commandant-General of the RAF Regiment from 2010 to 2012, and Commander of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands from 2013 to 2015. Since November 2015, he has been Director of RAF Sport.

Air Commodore Andrew Jonathan "Andy" Hall, is a Royal Air Force officer. From May 2013 to April 2016, he served as Commandant-General of the RAF Regiment.

Air Marshal Sir Graham Edward Stacey, is a senior Royal Air Force officer who served as Chief of Staff, Allied Command Transformation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Knighton</span> Royal Air Force officer and professional head, and aerospace engineer

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard John Knighton, is a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer and professional engineer, currently serving as Chief of the Air Staff, the professional head of the RAF, since 2 June 2023. He previously served as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff from January 2015 to January 2017, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff at the Ministry of Defence, and as Deputy Commander Capability at RAF Air Command. Knighton is notable for being the first Chief of the Air Staff who is not a military pilot or indeed aircrew-qualified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter J. M. Squires</span> Royal Air Force officer

Air Vice-Marshal Peter James Murray Squires, is a senior Royal Air Force officer, who currently serves as the Commander of British Forces Cyprus. From August 2016 to October 2019 he served as Commandant of RAF College Cranwell. He was formerly a Harrier pilot and served as commander of No. 100 Squadron RAF, flying BAE Systems Hawks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Smyth</span> Northern Irish Royal Air Force officer

Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, is a senior Northern Irish Royal Air Force officer, who currently serves as the Air and Space Commander. From July 2018, he served as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group. Between February 2020 and August 2022, he took up the new post of Director Space, in the Ministry of Defence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Flewin</span> RAF officer

Air Vice-Marshal Mark Robert Flewin, is a senior Royal Air Force who currently serves as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group RAF, headquartered at RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 NATO biography (includes photo) retrieved 7 April 2012
  2. "No. 47007". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 September 1976. p. 12206.
  3. "No. 47294". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 August 1977. p. 10287.
  4. "No. 47616". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 August 1978. p. 9822.
  5. "No. 48964". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 April 1982. p. 5666.
  6. "No. 50583". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 June 1986. pp. 8719–8720.
  7. "No. 53164". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 January 1993. p. 105.
  8. "No. 54642". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 January 1997. p. 217.
  9. "No. 56430". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2001. p. 6.
  10. "No. 56541". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 April 2002. p. 4813.
  11. "No. 56620". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 July 2002. p. 7894.
  12. gulabin.com Tri-Service Appointments p16 (Mar 2012) retrieved 13 May 2012
  13. "No. 57761". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 September 2005. p. 12121.
  14. gulabin.com RAF Appointments p43 (Mar 2012) retrieved 13 May 2012
  15. RAF Air Rank Appointments List 07/06 of 21 Aug 2006 Archived 4 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 17 June 2011
  16. gulabin.com RAF Appointments p84 (Mar 2012) retrieved 13 May 2012
  17. RAF Air Rank Appointments List 09/08 of 19 Dec 2008 Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 17 June 2011
  18. RAF Air Rank Appointments List 07/10 of 17 Sep 2010 retrieved 17 June 2011
  19. gulabin.com Tri-Service Appointments p28 (Mar 2012) retrieved 13 May 2012
  20. "No. 59808". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2011. pp. 4–6.
  21. "NATO News, 24 July 2013" . Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  22. "Change of Command – Director General of the NATO International Military Staff" . Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  23. "Key People – the Air League".
Military offices
New title Chief of Staff Operations
2005–2007
Succeeded byas Chief of Staff Operations, Air Command
Preceded by Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group
2007–2009
Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum
2009–2011
Succeeded by
Preceded by UK Military Representative to NATO
2011–2013
Succeeded by