Air Marshal Ian Barrington "Barry" Gration (born 30 June 1936) is a former senior officer in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF), whose career culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Air Staff from 1992 to 1994.

Early life

Gration was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, on 30 June 1936 to David Roy Gration and his wife Margaret (née Fleming). David, a dental mechanic, had served in the First World War as a

sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

on the Western Front and later enlisted in the Volunteer Defence Corps during the Second World War, discharging with the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

in 1945. Like his elder brother,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, Barry was educated at

Scotch College, Melbourne Scotch College is a private, Presbyterian day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The college was established in 1851 as The Melbourne Academy in a house in Spri ...

Service career

Gration joined the RAAF in 1953, graduating with distinction from

RAAF College The Royal Australian Air Force College (commonly known as the RAAF College and abbreviated as RAAFCOL) is the Royal Australian Air Force training and education academy which is responsible for all the Air Force's initial, career development, prom ...

, Point Cook in 1956 as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

, General Duties Branch. He served in a variety of flying and staff appointments from 1957 including a tour as flying instructor. In 1965, Gration graduated from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree. In June 1970, Squadron Leader Gration was awarded the Air Force Cross for his services to No. 34 Squadron as training officer and VIP captain. He was subsequently appointed Station Commander at

RAAF Base Fairbairn Fairbairn (), formerly RAAF Base Fairbairn, is a former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base, located in Australia's national capital, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Over the years the name of the establishment, and th ...

in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

, Director of Operations for the Air Force and then Station Commander at

RAAF Base Richmond RAAF Base Richmond is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located within the City of Hawkesbury, approximately North-West of the Sydney Central Business District in New South Wales, Australia. Situated between the towns of ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. He went on to be Director General Joint Operations and Plans at Australian Defence Force Headquarters in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and then Head of the Australian Defence Staff and Defence

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

at the Australian Embassy in Washington D. C. He was appointed

Air Commander Australia 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 ...

in 1990 and Chief of the Air Staff in 1992 before he retired from the RAAF in 1994. Gration was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 1988. He also holds the

Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air The Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, formerly the King's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, was a merit award for flying service awarded by the United Kingdom between 1942 and 1994. It was replaced by the Queen� ...

in recognition of his role in flying training and air transport. His brother General

Peter Gration General Peter Courtney Gration, (born 6 January 1932) is a retired senior Australian Army officer who served in the positions of Chief of the General Staff (1984–87) and Chief of the Defence Force (1987–93), the professional head of the Au ...

was Chief of the Australian Defence Force.

Honours and awards

Notes

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gration, Barry 1936 births Australian aviators Living people Military personnel from Melbourne Officers of the Order of Australia People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Royal Australian Air Force air marshals University of Queensland alumni Chiefs of Air Force (Australia)