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 Adm ...

Sir David Cousins, (born 20 January 1942) is a British 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 ...

(RAF) commander.

Early life and education

Cousins was born in 1942, the son of Peter and Irene Cousins. He was educated at

St. Edward's College, Malta St Edward's College, Malta is a Maltese private boys' independent school, with optional boarding, in Cottonera. Its enrollment is just under 700 pupils of 5–18 years of age. It was founded in 1929 by Baroness Strickland, Countess della Catena, ...

, 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. Wilhelms ...

, Germany, after which he attended the

Royal Air Force College The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military 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 an ...

and

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British 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 underg ...

RAF career

Cousins 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 military 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 ...

.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 with

RAF Germany The former Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG) was a command of the Royal Air Force and part of British Forces Germany. It consisted of units located in Germany, initially as part of the occupation following the Second World War, and later as part o ...

and then

Buccaneers Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors 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 until about 1688 ...

for RAF Germany. In 1983 he became Station Commander at

RAF Laarbruch Royal Air Force , more commonly known as RAF ICAO EDUL (from 1 January 1995 ETUL) was a Royal Air Force station, a military airfield, located in Germany on its border with the Netherlands. The Station's motto was (). The site now operates a ...

, 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'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the t ...

and Tornados. He then held a number of staff appointments in air plans, operational requirements and operations. 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 level ...

, he held a number of senior air rank positions on the Air Staff at the Ministry of Defence, in the MoD Procurement Executive, as Commandant of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell and, from 1994, as Air Officer Commanding No. 38 (Transport) Group. He was appointed

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 t ...

on the Air Force Board 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
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 rein ...

since August 2008: the unit provides support for intelligence analysis and briefings. He has also served as the controller of the

RAF Benevolent Fund The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund (RAF Benevolent Fund or RAFBF) is the Royal Air Force's leading welfare charity, providing financial, practical and emotional support to serving and former members of the RAF – regardless of rank – as well ...

Family

In 1966, he married Mary Cousins, daughter of Rev. A. W. S. Holmes. They have two sons and a daughter. He has 7 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