The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain.
The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including Commandant Air Cadets, a Full Term Reserve Service RAF officer, at the rank of Air Commodore. Although many ATC cadets go on to join the RAF or other services, the ATC is not a recruiting organisation for its parent service.
The Royal Air Force Regiment is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps founded by Royal Warrant in 1942. The Corps carries out soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such tasks are Non Combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO), recovery of downed aircrew, and in-depth defence of airfields by way of aggressively patrolling a large area of operations outside airfields in hostile environments. In addition the RAF Regiment provides Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) to the British Army and Royal Marines, and provides flight size commitment to the Special Forces Support Group.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Hart Kyle, was an Australian who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a senior commander and later as the 24th Governor of Western Australia. Born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Kyle was commissioned into the RAF in 1929, and, having seen service in the Second World War and the Malayan Emergency, held a number of senior positions, including Vice-Chief of the Air Staff and commander-in-chief of the RAF's Bomber Command and Strike Command. He was made Governor of Western Australia in 1975, a position in which he served until 1980, later returning to England, where he died in 1988.
The Royal Air Force Police (RAFP) is the service police branch of the Royal Air Force, headed by the provost marshal of the Royal Air Force. Its headquarters are at RAF Honington and it deploys throughout the world to support RAF and UK defence missions.
Intelligence services in the Royal Air Force are delivered by Officers of the Royal Air Force Intelligence Branch and Airmen from the Intelligence Analyst Trade and Intelligence Analyst (Voice) Trade. The specialisation has around 1200 personnel of all ranks posted to operational air stations, HQs and other establishments of the British Armed Forces, both in the United Kingdom and overseas.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael James Beetham, was a Second World War bomber pilot and a high-ranking commander in the Royal Air Force from the 1960s to the 1980s. As Chief of the Air Staff during the Falklands War he was involved in the decision to send the Task Force to the South Atlantic. At the time of his death Beetham was one of only six people holding his service's most senior rank and, excluding Prince Philip's honorary rank, and had the longest time in rank, making him the senior Marshal of the Royal Air Force.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Samuel Charles Elworthy, Baron Elworthy, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served as commander of a squadron of Blenheim bombers and then as a station commander during the Second World War. He became Chief of the Air Staff in the mid-1960s and implemented the cancellation of the TSR-2 strike aircraft and the HS681 military transport aircraft programmes. He also became Chief of the Defence Staff in which role he oversaw the evacuation from Aden in November 1967 and had to respond to the growing crisis in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Neil Foxley-Norris was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF). A squadron commander during the Second World War, he later served as Commander-in-Chief RAF Germany in the late 1960s.
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.
The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force training and education academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to be commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and is responsible for all RAF recruiting along with officer and aircrew selection. Originally established as a naval aviation training centre during World War I, the College was established as the world's first air academy in 1919. During World War II, the College was closed and its facilities were used as a flying training school. Reopening after the War, the College absorbed the Royal Air Force Technical College in 1966.
Air Marshal Sir Stuart David Atha, is a former senior officer of the Royal Air Force. He led No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron from 2000 to 2004, which included deployment to Iraq on Operation Telic, commanded RAF Coningsby (2006–08), No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group (2009–10) and No. 1 Group (2011–14), and served as the Air Component Commander for security during the 2012 London Olympics. Atha was Deputy Commander Operations from 2016 to 2019.
Air Marshal Sir Barry Mark "Baz" North, is a 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 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 he 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 air campaign over Kosovo in 1999, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for leadership and gallantry. 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.
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 Brian Alexander Eaton, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in Tasmania and raised in Victoria, he joined the RAAF in 1936 and was promoted to flight lieutenant on the outbreak of World War II. He held training positions before being posted to No. 3 Squadron at the beginning of 1943, flying P-40 Kittyhawk fighter-bombers in North Africa. Despite being shot down three times within ten days soon after arriving, Eaton quickly rose to become the unit's commanding officer, and by year's end had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. His leadership earned him the Distinguished Service Order and Bar in 1944–45, and command of No. 239 Wing RAF in Italy, with the temporary rank of group captain. He was also awarded the US Silver Star in 1946 in recognition of his war service.
Air Marshal Minoo Merwan Engineer, PVSM, MVC, DFC (1921–1997) was a former Air Officer in the Indian Air Force. He is one of the most decorated officers in the Indian Air Force, with the second-highest civil decoration - the Padma Bhushan, two gallantry awards - the Maha Vir Chakra and the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the highest peace-time distinguished service award - the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.
Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Charles West, is a warrant officer of the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was the Canadian Forces Chief Warrant Officer and therefore the most senior non-commissioned member of the Canadian Forces. He was previously the Chief Warrant Officer of the RCAF.
Warrant Officer Clive Alan Martland, is a Royal Air Force officer who was formerly the most senior warrant officer of the RAF. Having served for most of his career as a Physical Training Instructor, he was the Chief of the Air Staff's Warrant Officer from 2014 until 2016. He was, therefore, the most senior member of the other ranks of the RAF.
Warrant Officer Jake Alpert, is a senior warrant officer in the Royal Air Force serving as Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force since 2019. Therefore, he is the most senior non-commissioned officer in the RAF.
