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 David Cousins KCB, AFC, BA (born 20 January 1942) is a British 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 ...

(RAF) commander.

Early life and education

David Cousins was born in 1942, the son of Peter and Irene Cousins. He was educated at St. Edward's College and then Prince Rupert School in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

, Germany, after which he attended the Royal Air Force College, and subsequently gained a Bachelor of Arts degree at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

RAF career

He joined the RAF in 1961 and spent three years at

Royal Air Force College Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and is resp ...

.Appointment of new Honorary Air Commodore
Air Force News He then had a number of operational flying tours, initially flying Lightnings in the air defence role in the UK and RAF Germany, and then

Buccaneers Buccaneers were a kind of privateer or free sailors, and pirates particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 unti ...

in RAF Germany, commanding No 16 Squadron from 1977 to 1979. In 1983 he became Station Commander at RAF Laarbruch, home to four RAF Squadrons flying

Jaguars The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only 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 species in the Americas an ...

and Tornados as well as two RAF Regiment Squadrons. . He then held a number of staff appointments in air plans, operational requirements and operations. He has also served as ADC to the Chief of the Air Staff and later as PSO to the Chief of the Air Staff. Following attendance at the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

, he held a number of senior air rank positions: on the Air Staff at the Ministry of Defence, in the

MoD Procurement Executive The MoD Procurement Executive was the acquisition organisation of the Ministry of Defence. The Procurement Executive (widely known as ''PE'') was established on 2 August 1971 as a single procurement agency for all three services with Derek Rayner ...

, as Commandant of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell and, from 1994, as Air Officer Commanding No 38 Group RAF and Senior Air Staff Officer HQ Strike Command. 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 ...

on the

Air Force Board The Air Force Board of the Defence Council is responsible for the management of the Royal Air Force. Prior to the creation of the current UK Ministry of Defence in 1964, the administration of the RAF and its personnel was undertaken by the ...

and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Personnel and Training Command in May 1995 and served in that role until he retired in August 1998.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – RAF Home Commands formed between 1958 – 2002
David Cousins has served as Honorary Air Commodore of No. 7630 (Volunteer Reserve) Intelligence Squadron,

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces ( Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary re ...

for 10 years since August 2008: the unit provides support for intelligence analysis and briefings. He has also served as the Controller of the RAF Benevolent Fund from 1998 to 2006.

Family

In 1966, he married Mary Holmes, daughter of Rev. A. W. S. Holmes. They have two sons and a daughter who all emigrated to New Zealand. . He has 7 grandchildren by his first marriage. He subsequently married Maggie Broadbent in 2006 who has 3 daughters and 9 grandchildren.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cousins, David Royal Air Force air marshals Living people Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Honorary air commodores Commandants of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell 1942 births Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies