Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Edward Leonard Ellington, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the First World War as a staff officer and then as director-general of military aeronautics and subsequently as controller-general of equipment. In the inter-war years he held command positions in the Middle East, in India and then in Iraq. He served as Chief of the Air Staff in the mid-1930s and in that role he implemented a plan, known as 'Scheme F'. This scheme implemented an increase in the size of the Royal Air Force to 187 squadrons within three years to counter the threat from Hitler's Germany. He also broke up the command known as "Air Defence of Great Britain" to create RAF Fighter Command, RAF Bomber Command, RAF Coastal Command and RAF Training Command. He then served as Inspector-General of the RAF until his retirement in 1940.
Air Marshal David John Pocock, is a former senior Royal Air Force officer who served as Defence Services Secretary from 2004 to 2005.
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 Dermot Alexander Boyle, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the Second World War initially as a staff officer with the Advanced Air Striking Force in Reims in which capacity he organised the evacuation of the Force through Brest in May 1940. His war service included tours as a bomber squadron commander, as a station commander and also as an air group commander. He was Chief of the Air Staff in the late 1950s and, in that role, deployed British air power during the Suez Crisis in October 1956 and defended the RAF against the views of Duncan Sandys, the Minister for Defence, who believed that the V bomber force rendered manned fighter aircraft redundant.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Anthony Wilkinson Heward, was a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) commander.
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 RAF Deputy Commander Operations from 2016 to 2019.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant, is a former Royal Air Force officer, who served as Commander-in-Chief of Air Command, and he was the second-most senior officer in the service until this post was dis-established in March 2012. He was appointed in 2010, following the sudden death of the then Commander-in-Chief, Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Moran, having served as Deputy Commander-in-Chief Personnel for just over a year. He was knighted in the 2011 New Year Honours List.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Donald Randell Evans, was a senior Royal Air Force commander who was an innovator in night fighting tactics in the Second World War and conducted the signals planning for the Sicily and Normandy invasions.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Joseph Alfred Gilbert, is a former Royal Air Force officer who served as Deputy Commander of Strike Command from 1984 to 1986.
Air Vice Marshal Peter John Harding, was a senior Royal Air Force officer who served as Defence Services Secretary from 1994 to 1998.
Air Marshal Gregory Jack Bagwell, is a retired senior Royal Air Force (RAF) commander who served as Deputy Commander (Operations) at RAF Air Command.
Air Marshal Edward Jackson Stringer, is a retired Royal Air Force officer. From April 2018 to 2021 he 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.
Air Vice-Marshal Christopher James Luck is a British charity executive and retired Royal Air Force officer. He was Commandant of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell from 2013 to 2016, and Commandant of the Joint Services Command and Staff College from 2017 to 2019. Since 2019, he has been CEO of the Shaw Trust.
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.
Air Vice Marshal Christina Reid Elliot, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer.
Air Marshal Andrew Mark Turner, is a former senior Royal Air Force officer and helicopter pilot.
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 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.
Air Marshal Ian David Gale, is a retired officer in the Royal Air Force, serving as Director-General of Joint Force Development, Strategic Command from 2021 to 2024.
Air Marshal Paul Alexander Godfrey, is a senior Royal Air Force officer, who served as the first commander of the United Kingdom Space Command.
