Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...

Sir Ronald Andrew Fellowes Wilson, (born 27 February 1941), often known as Sir Andrew Wilson and sometimes known informally as Sir Sandy Wilson, is a retired senior

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

officer.

RAF career

Educated at

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

, Wilson joined the Royal Air Force in 1962. From 1976 to 1978 Wilson served as the Commanding Officer of No. II (AC) Squadron. During this time the Squadron took delivery of the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

which Wilson oversaw, flying practice reconnaissance missions. In 1980 Wilson was made Station Commander of

RAF Lossiemouth Royal Air Force Lossiemouth or more commonly RAF Lossiemouth is a military airfield located on the western edge of the town of Lossiemouth in Moray, north-east Scotland. Lossiemouth is one of the largest and busiest fast-jet stations in the ...

. In 1990 Wilson was appointed the Commander British Forces Middle East, making him the in-theatre commander for Operation Granby, the British contribution to the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. He was knighted in 1991 and in 1993 he was appointed

Air Member for Personnel An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

and the following year, on 1 April 1994, Wilson became the first Air Officer Commander-in-Chief of Personnel and Training Command.

Retirement

He retired prematurely on 26 August 1995. He was accused of using £387,000 in government funds to refurbish Haymes Garth, the official residence for the Air Member for Personnel based at RAF Innsworth. He argued that funds had been approved for this purpose, but was not supported by the then Defence Minister, Sir

Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from 2 ...

References

External links

II(AC) Sqn Association – Wg Cdr R A F Wilson
, - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Sandy Living people 1941 births People educated at Tonbridge School Royal Air Force air marshals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Royal Air Force air marshals of the Gulf War 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel