Gerry Mayhew

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Sir Gerry Mayhew
Air Marshal Gerry Mayhew (cropped).jpg
Air Marshal Mayhew in 2019
Born (1969-02-15) 15 February 1969 (age 55)
Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Air Force
Years of service1988–2022
Rank Air Marshal
Commands No. 1 Group (2016–18)
RAF Leuchars (2013–14)
No. 13 Squadron RAF (2007–09)
Battles/wars Iraq War
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Air Marshal Sir Gerard Michael David Mayhew, KCB , CBE (born 15 February 1969) is a former senior Royal Air Force officer, who served as Deputy Commander Operations, Headquarters Air Command between May 2019 and August 2022.

Contents

Early life and education

Mayhew was born on 15 February 1969 in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, (now in the West Midlands), England. He was educated at St Benedict's Catholic High School, a voluntary aided Catholic school in Alcester, Warwickshire, and at Alcester Grammar School, a grammar school in Alcester. [1]

Military career

Mayhew was commissioned into the Royal Air Force on 28 July 1988 as an acting pilot officer. [2] He served as an air traffic control officer from 1988 to 1990. [1] In 1990, he trained as a pilot and became a Qualified Weapons Instructor (QWI). [1] His early career as a pilot was spent flying the Jaguar and Tornado, and he has more than 3000 flying hours. [3] From 2007 to 2009, he served as Officer Commanding No. 13 Squadron RAF. [1]

In January 2013, Mayhew was appointed Air Officer Scotland and Officer Commanding RAF Leuchars. [3] One of his main duties was to oversee the transfer of Leuchars, then an RAF station, to the British Army as a barracks; this was finalised in March 2015. He stepped down as Air Officer Scotland on 17 November 2014. [4] From April 2015 to April 2016, he was a member of the Strategic Defence and Security Review Team in the Cabinet Office. [5] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours. [6] On 28 April 2016 was promoted to air vice marshal and appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group. [7]

In August 2018, Mayhew succeeded Air Vice Marshal Michael Wigston as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff. [8] In May 2019, he became Deputy Commander Operations, Headquarters Air Command and was promoted to air marshal. [9] Mayhew was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2022 New Year Honours. [10] [11]

In April 2022 Mayhew accepted the freedom of Causeway Coasts and Glens Borough, on behalf of the RAF, at a ceremony in Limavady, County Londonderry. The town held a parade and saw a fly past of a Boeing P-8 Poseidon. The RAF were based in Limavady and in the nearby village of Ballykelly during World War Two. [12]

Mayhew was criticised in an employment tribunal case in October 2023 in which he was found to have offered "hollow and unconvincing evidence" in a claim by a serving military officer. [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 'MAYHEW, Air Vice-Marshal Gerard Michael David', Who's Who 2017 , A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 2016 accessed 7 Nov 2017
  2. ↑ "No. 51524". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 November 1988. p. 12505.
  3. 1 2 "RAF Leuchars commander to oversee handover to army". The Courier. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Senior Appointments". raf.mod.uk. Royal Air Force. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Senior Appointments". raf.mod.uk. Royal Air Force. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "No. 61256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2015. p. B7.
  7. ↑ "Senior Appointments". raf.mod.uk. Royal Air Force. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "Senior Appointments". raf.mod.uk. Royal Air Force. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "Senior Appointments". raf.mod.uk. Royal Air Force. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  10. ↑ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N2.
  11. ↑ "The Military Division of the New Year Honours 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "Royal Air Force given freedom of Causeway Coast and Glens". 8 April 2022 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  13. ↑ "Reserved Judgement: Allan Steele v. The Ministry of Defence" (PDF). Employment Tribunals. 28 April 2023. p. 12. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
Military offices
Preceded by Station Commander RAF Leuchars
2013–2014		Post disbanded
Air Officer Scotland
2013–2014		Succeeded by
Preceded by Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group
2016–2018		Succeeded by
Preceded by Assistant Chief of the Air Staff
2018–2019		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Commander Operations
2019–2022		Succeeded by
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