Ross Paterson | |
|---|---|
 Paterson in 2017 | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | Royal Air Force |
| Rank | Air Vice Marshal |
| Commands held | Air Officer Scotland |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Air Vice Marshal Ross Paterson, CB , OBE , ADC , DL is a Royal Air Force reservist who served as Air Officer Scotland from 2014 to 2024.
After working in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, Paterson became Head of Strategy and Personnel Policy for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in May 2009, [1] Chief Executive of the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency in October 2011, [2] and Chief Executive of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency in May 2015. [3]
On 31 July 1983, Paterson was commissioned in the Administrative Branch of the Royal Air Force as a flying officer and was granted seniority in that rank from 31 January 1982. [4] He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 31 January 1986. [5] By June 2001, he had been promoted to the rank of group captain. [6]
He became Air Officer Scotland in January 2015. [7] He was succeeded in that role by Air Commodore Bill Gibson in January 2024. [8]
In the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours, Paterson was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). [6]
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Andrew Henry Humphrey, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He fought in the Second World War as a fighter pilot taking part in the Battle of Britain and also took part in the withdrawal from Aden in November 1967. He served as the Chief of the Air Staff advising the new Labour Government on the implementation of their latest Defence Review. He then served as Chief of the Defence Staff but caught pneumonia within three months of taking office and died shortly afterwards.
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:
Air Commodore Graham Clarke Bladon was a British air officer of the Royal Air Force, who initially joined the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War, becoming an RAF officer in 1918. He went on to hold various commands up to and throughout the Second World War, and served as the first Commander of the Royal Ceylon Air Force from 1951 until 1958.
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 British Armed Forces.
Air Marshal Sir Barry Mark North, is a retired 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 Officer Scotland is the senior Royal Air Force officer in Scotland. Since January 2024, the appointment has been held by Air Commodore Bill Gibson.
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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.
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Air Commodore Charles Henry Clarke, was a British Royal Air Force officer. Having served in Bomber Command in the Second World War, he was shot down and interned at Stalag Luft III—this was The Great Escape camp and he acted as a watcher but was not involved in the escape itself. He remained in the RAF after the war, commanded RAF Stafford, served in Palestine, Aden and Malta, before retiring in 1978. He later campaigned for a memorial to Bomber Command: one was finally erected in 2012 in London.
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