Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1 April 2015 |
Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
Headquarters | Main Building, Whitehall, Westminster |
Agency executive |
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Parent agency | Ministry of Defence |
The Defence Safety Authority (DSA) is an agency of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence which regulates safety and investigates accidents in the UK's Armed Forces.
The DSA was launched on 1 April 2015 and brings together the Defence Safety and Environment Authority (DSEA), Military Aviation Authority (MAA) and Defence Fire Safety Regulator (DFSR), to form a single common managed organization under the leadership of a 3-star Director General (DG) – DG DSA. [1] The Director-General is also the head of the Defence Accident Investigation Branch (DAIB) [2] (Formerly the Military Air Accident Investigation Branch (MilAAIB) and the Land Accident Investigation Team (LAIT)). [3]
The Directors-General have been: The Directors-General have been:
The Ministry of Defence is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for implementing the defence policy set by the government and serves as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the British Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The chief of the defence staff is based at the Ministry of Defence and works alongside the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence, the ministry's senior civil servant. The Chief of Defence is the highest ranking officer to currently serve in the armed forces.
Defence Intelligence (DI) is an organisation within the United Kingdom intelligence community which focuses on gathering and analysing military intelligence. It differs from the UK's intelligence agencies in that it is an integral part of a government department – the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – rather than a stand-alone organisation. The organisation employs a mixture of civilian and military staff and is funded within the UK's defence budget. The organisation was formerly known as the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS), but changed its name in 2009.
The United Kingdom's Strategic Command (StratCom), previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services.
The Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (ACAS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force. The current ACAS is Air Vice-Marshal Suraya Marshall.
The Royal Air Force Legal Branch (RAFLB) or Directorate Legal Services (DLS) – as it is better known – is the uniformed legal service provider for the Royal Air Force. It consists of solicitors and barristers qualified in a Commonwealth jurisdiction. DLS is headquartered at Air Command RAF High Wycombe. The Directorate is currently staffed by a mixture of members of:
The Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force. The incumbent is the deputy to the Chief of the Air Staff. The post existed from 1918 to 1969, and from 2023 to present. The Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, formerly the Deputy Commander Capability, is responsible for the strategic planning and delivery of all aspects of Royal Air Force capability, including people, equipment, infrastructure, and training. The appointee is a Member of the United Kingdom's Air Force Board as the Air Member for Personnel and Capability due to their position.
Air Marshal Sir Richard Frank Garwood, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer.
Air Marshal Dame Susan Catherine Gray, is a former senior Royal Air Force officer. She served as Director of Combat Air at Defence Equipment and Support in the Ministry of Defence (2014–16), as Air Officer Commanding No. 38 Group (2016–18), and as Director-General of the Defence Safety Authority (2019–22). She is the most senior female officer ever to serve in the Royal Air Force.
The Royal Air Force Medical Services is the branch of the Royal Air Force that provides health care at home and on deployed operations to RAF service personnel. Medical officers are the doctors of the RAF and have specialist expertise in aviation medicine to support aircrew and their protective equipment. Medical officers also carry out Aeromedical evacuations, providing vital assistance on search-and-rescue missions or emergency relief flights worldwide.
The Air Secretary and Chief of Staff, Personnel is the Royal Air Force officer with responsibility for appointments, promotions, postings, and discipline of high ranking members of the British air force. From 1978 to 1983 the Air Secretary was more often referred to as "Air Officer Commanding Royal Air Force Personnel Management Centre". It is a senior RAF appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of air vice-marshal and appointed by the sovereign. The Air Secretary's counterpart in the British Army is the Military Secretary and the Royal Navy equivalent is the Naval Secretary.
The Military Aviation Authority (MAA) is an organisation within the British Ministry of Defence and is the single regulatory authority responsible for regulating all aspects of Air Safety across Defence, with full oversight of all Defence aviation activity. It is part of the MoD, but operates independently, via a Charter signed by the Secretary of State for Defence.
Air Marshal Sir Kevin James Leeson, is a retired Royal Air Force engineer officer, whose final appointment was as Chief of Materiel – Air at the Defence Equipment and Support organisation, concurrently holding the appointments of Air Member for Materiel on the Air Force Board and Chief Engineer (RAF), at which point he was the most senior non-aircrew officer in the service.
Air Marshal Sir Gerard Michael David Mayhew, is a former senior Royal Air Force officer, who served as Deputy Commander Operations, Headquarters Air Command between May 2019 and August 2022.
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.
Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, is a senior Northern Irish Royal Air Force officer, who has been the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff since March 2024. Previously, he served as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group (2018–2020) and Air and Space Commander (2022–2024). Between February 2020 and August 2022, he took up the new post of Director Space, in the Ministry of Defence.
Air Vice-Marshal Tamara Nancy Jennings, is a British solicitor and senior Royal Air Force officer. Since November 2024, she has been deputy commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies. She served as director of Legal Services and head of the RAF Legal Branch from 2018 to 2024.
Air Marshal Alan Kenneth Gillespie is a senior Royal Air Force officer. He currently serves as the Director General of the Defence Safety Authority.
This is the structure of the British Armed Forces.
Air Marshal Stephen Jeffrey Shell, is a senior Royal Air Force officer. He has served as director general of the Defence Safety Authority (DSA) since January 2022. He had served as director of the Military Aviation Authority from 2018 to 2021.