Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admi ...

Sir Anthony John Crowther "Tony" Bagnall, (born 8 June 1945) is a retired senior

Royal Air Force 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) an ...

officer and former Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.

Flying career

Bagnall was commissioned into the

in 1967.Debretts
He became a weapons instructor on the

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

aircraft later that year. Bagnall became

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of No. 43 Squadron flying

Phantom Phantom may refer to: * Spirit (animating force), the vital principle or animating force within all living things ** Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living Aircraft * Boeing Phantom Ray, a stealthy unm ...

s, and then No. 23 Squadron in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

in 1983 before becoming Director of Air Staff Briefing and Co-ordination in 1985 and then Station Commander of

RAF Leuchars Royal Air Force Leuchars or RAF Leuchars was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the station was home to fighter aircraft which policed northern UK airspa ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

in 1988. Promoted to air commodore in 1990, he was made Director of Air Force Staff Duties at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

in 1991. Promoted again, this time to

air vice marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

, in 1992 he was appointed

Assistant Chief of the Air Staff The Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (ACAS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force. The current ACAS is Air Vice-Marshal Simon Edwards. The post was originally established circa February 1938, but without being made a member of the Air ...

and then in 1994 went on to become Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group. This was followed by a tour starting in 1996 as Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe in the rank of Air Marshal. In 1998 he became

Air Member for Personnel The Air Member for Personnel (AMP) is the senior Royal Air Force officer who is responsible for personnel matters and is a member of the Air Force Board. The AMP is in charge of all aspects of recruiting, non-operational flying and ground tr ...

and

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

Personnel and Training Command Personnel and Training Command (PTC) was one of two commands of the Royal Air Force (the other being Strike Command) that were merged to form Air Command on 1 April 2007. History Formation PTC was formed in 1994 bringing together the r ...

before being appointed Commander-in-Chief Strike Command in 2000. He served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff from 2001 until his retirement in 2005. In 2005 he became a member of the Court of the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Family

He is married to Pamela; they have three children.

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - 1945 births Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Living people Royal Air Force air marshals Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell {{RAF-bio-stub