 |
Murugesvaran Subramaniam | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Nickname(s) | Subby [1] |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | British Army Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1998–present |
| Rank | Warrant Officer |
| Commands held | Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force (2023—) |
Warrant Officer Murugesvaran Subramaniam, is a senior Royal Air Force non-commissioned officer, who currently serves as the Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force.
Subramaniam was educated in Malaysia until the age of 19 when he moved to the UK. He earned a Bachelor of Law and a Diploma in Higher Education in Finance and Legal Studies from Sheffield Hallam University. [2] [3]
He joined the British Army and served in the Royal Engineers with 106 Field Squadron/12 Force (Air) Support Group, 36 Engineering Regiment. He then joined the Royal Air Force in 1998 and was posted to air defence duties at RAF Neatishead and subsequently RAF Buchan. In 2004 he was posted to the Maritime Component Command Northwood as the Recognised Maritime Intelligence Operator, working in an Intelligence Production Cell (IPC) in support of NATO maritime operations and anti-submarine warfare.
In 2007, he was reassigned to RAF High Wycombe, working on pan-government reliance operations, and also gained a number of qualifications while there. In 2010, he was selected for an assignment to Buckley Air Force Base with the United States Air Force as part of the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) programme, where he qualified as a Systems Crew Chief, and later a Flight Chief.
In 2014, he returned to the UK and was posted to RAF Fylingdales as a Crew Chief, supervising the operation of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS). He would later take up the role of Deputy Plans and Mission Support Flight, which saw him posted back to RAF High Wycombe and service in principally administration jobs. In 2019, he was promoted to Warrant Officer (WO) and appointed as the commanding WO of the RAF's Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) and the Link 16 system. [2]
In 2021, he was appointed as the inaugural Command Warrant Officer to the United Kingdom Space Command (UKSC), and the following year was selected as the first RAF WO to attend the Command Senior Enlisted Staff Course at Baltic Defence College in Estonia, where Subramaniam graduated with the Commandant's Award. [4] He was appointed as the Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force in April 2023. [1]
Subramaniam is married to a civil servant who is also employed in the RAF, and they have one daughter. He enjoys many sports, such as rugby, hockey and cricket. [2] Subramaniam is Hindu. [3]
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the second independent air force in the world after Finnish Air Force, by merging 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 played a significant role in British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF established air superiority over Hermann Göring's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, and led the Allied strategic bombing effort.
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consist of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. All six armed services are among the eight uniformed services of the United States.
Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned officer ranks, the most senior of the non-commissioned officer (NCO) ranks, or in a separate category of their own. Warrant officer ranks are especially prominent in the militaries of Commonwealth nations and the United States.
Royal Air Force Fylingdales or more simply RAF Fylingdales is a Royal Air Force station on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Its motto is Vigilamus. It is a radar base and is also part of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS). As part of intelligence-sharing arrangements between the United States and United Kingdom, data collected at RAF Fylingdales are shared between the two countries. Its primary purpose is to give the British and US governments warning of an impending ballistic missile attack. A secondary role is the detection and tracking of orbiting objects; Fylingdales is part of the United States Space Surveillance Network. As well as its early-warning and space-tracking roles, Fylingdales has a third function – the Satellite Warning Service for the UK. It keeps track of spy satellites used by other countries, so that secret activities in the UK can be carried out when they are not overhead. The armed services, defence manufacturers and research organisations, including universities, take advantage of this facility.
The United Kingdom's Strategic Command (StratCom), previously known as Joint Forces Command (JFC), manages allocated joint capabilities from the three armed services.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Thomas Geoffrey Pike, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the Second World War as a night fighter squadron commander and then as a station commander. He was Chief of the Air Staff in the early 1960s and, in that role, deployed British air power as part of the British response to the Brunei Revolt. Also, in the face of escalating costs, he implemented the cancellation of the British Blue Streak ballistic missile system but then found the RAF was without any such capability when the Americans cancelled their own Skybolt ballistic missile system. He went on to be Deputy Supreme Commander Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in the mid-1960s.
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.
The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force. Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are supported by the Central Armed Police Forces, Indian Coast Guard and Special Frontier Force and various inter-service commands and institutions such as the Strategic Forces Command, the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Integrated Defence Staff. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces but the executive authority and responsibility for national security is vested in the Prime Minister of India and their chosen Cabinet Ministers. The Indian Armed Forces are under the management of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India. With strength of over 1.4 million active personnel, it is the world's second-largest military force and has the world's largest volunteer army. It also has the third-largest defence budget in the world. The Global Firepower Index report lists it as the fourth most-powerful military.
The Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) is composed of the armed forces of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian Defence Force (ADF), and the Australian Public Service government department, the Department of Defence which is composed of a range of civilian support organisations.
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.
A senior enlisted advisor (SEA) in the United States Armed Forces is the most senior enlisted service member in a unit, and acts as an advisor to the commanding officer. Formally, E-9 billets for the senior enlisted advisor are established at service unit, command, major command, force, or fleet levels to the SEAs/CSELs of DoD Agencies and the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. SEAs are also known as command senior enlisted leaders (CSEL). Always a non-commissioned officer, the SEA is the main link between the commanding officer and the enlisted service members under his or her charge.
A warrant officer (WO) in the British Armed Forces is a member of the highest-ranking group of non-commissioned ranks, holding the King's Warrant, which is signed by the Secretary of State for Defence.
The Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force (WORAF), previously known as the Chief of the Air Staff's Warrant Officer (CASWO), is the senior Royal Air Force (RAF) appointment for a warrant officer (WO), and therefore the most senior non-commissioned appointment in the RAF. The person holding this military appointment advises the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) on matters concerning airmen and airwomen of the RAF. The post was created in May 1996, as the Chief of the Air Staff's Warrant Officer. The post was re-titled Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force (WORAF) on 1 July 2021, and whilst continuing to report directly to the Chief of the Air Staff, the scope of the WORAF was widened to 'work for the entirety of the RAF'. The current WORAF is WO Murugesvaran 'Subby' Subramaniam, who was appointed in April 2023. As of 2023, including the incumbent, there has been a total of eleven personnel in this appointment.
Rear Admiral Stephen Richard Gilmore, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy. He served as Commander Australian Fleet from October 2009 until December 2011, and as the Head Australian Defence Staff (Washington) and Australian Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Australia, Washington, D.C. from January 2014 until his retirement in 2017.
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.
At the end of the Cold War in 1989, the Royal Air Force (RAF) structure was as follows:
Air Vice-Marshal Ian W. Duguid, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer, whose final post was as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group RAF, headquartered at RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. Duguid was a Harrier pilot and Typhoon Force Commander before assuming the role of the Air Officer Commanding of No. 11 Group, which he served as from 2018 to November 2021.
Warrant Officer Jake Alpert, is a senior warrant officer in the Royal Air Force, who served as Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force from 2019 to 2023. Therefore, he was the most senior non-commissioned officer in the RAF.
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.
