Air Marshal Sir Christopher Nigel Harper, (born 25 March 1957) is a 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, who served as the UK Military Representative to NATO and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

from 2011 to 2013 and as Director General of the NATO International Military Staff from 2013 to 2016. He was previously Deputy Commander Allied Joint Force Command at Brunssum in the Netherlands (2009–11), and Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group in the UK (2007–09).

Education and personal

Harper was educated at

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, independent, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundatio ...

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

(MA, Defence Studies). He is married with one son and enjoys flying, shooting, running, riding motorcycles and gastronomy.

Career

Harper was commissioned as an acting pilot officer after winning the Sword of Honour at Initial Officer Training in 1976; he regraded to pilot officer the following year. He was promoted to flying officer in 1978; and posted to 41(F) Squadron in 1979 for his first tour on the

SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French supersonic jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. As of 2025, the Jaguar remains in service with the ...

.NATO biography (includes photo)
retrieved 7 April 2012 Promoted to flight lieutenant in 1982, he served as a Qualified Weapons Instructor on the Jaguar with No. 31 and No. 14 Squadrons before an exchange tour with the Canadian Air Force flying the

McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

. He was promoted to squadron leader in 1986, and gained a Master of Arts in Defence Studies from King's College London in 1993. Promoted to wing commander in 1993, he returned to command No. 41(F) Squadron between 1994 and 1997; he was actively involved in operations over

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

during this period. Having been promoted to group captain at the end of this tour, he maintained his connection with the Jaguar force by returning to RAF Coltishall from 1999 to 2001 as Station Commander and Jaguar Force Commander. Throughout this period the Jaguar Force was involved in operations over

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Harper was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the 2002 New Year Honours List and later that year was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

for action while over Northern Iraq. Promoted to air commodore in 2002, Harper served as Air Commodore Typhoon at No. 1 Group, before becoming the first Director of Joint Commitments at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

in 2004. Following promotion to air vice marshal in 2005, he was appointed Chief of Staff Operations at what became RAF Air Command. In 2007 he returned to No. 1 Group as Air Officer Commanding, following which he was promoted to air marshal and appointed Deputy Commander, NATO Allied Joint Force Command, Brunssum in March 2009. Harper was appointed the UK Military Representative to NATO and the EU in March 2011 and promoted to

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in June 2011. He was elected to be the Director-General of the International Military Staff at

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Headquarters in Brussels on 24 July 2013. He handed over his command of the International Military Staff to Lieutenant General Jan Broeks in July 2016. In 2002, Harper became Honorary President of No 1475 (Dulwich) Squadron Air Training Corps based in South East London. Following his retirement from the RAF in 2017, Air Mshl Harper became the Honorary Air Commodore of No 2620 (County of Norfolk) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, based at RAF Marham, he was made a Non-Resident Senior fellow of the Atlantic Council of the United States of America in the same year. He was appointed in 2018 as a Trustee of the Air League and subsequently became the organisation's President in December 2020. In 2019 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS); he serves as a Committee member of the Society's Air Power Group. He is a member of the Munich Security Conference’s Innovation Board, the Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group and the Alphen Group. Harper is the founder and managing director of CH4C Global Ltd, a small independent company that provides bespoke consultancy services to organisations working in international defence, security, aviation, aerospace, Space and technology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Chris 1957 births Living people People educated at Alleyn's School Alumni of King's College London Royal Air Force air marshals Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire