Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries which have historical British infl ...

Alfred John Quaife, AM (born 2 June 1955) is a retired senior officer of 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).

Early life

John Quaife was born on 2 June 1955 in Melbourne. Prior to joining the RAAF, he graduated from

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

Service history

Quaife graduated from No. 112 Pilots Course in September 1981. After an initial posting to the Strike Reconnaissance Group, and a brief tour flying Canberra aircraft, his operational career has focussed on fighter operations; Quaife's initial fighter training was conducted on Mirage IIIO aircraft. In 1987, Quaife completed

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

conversion training, and subsequently served with No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit, No 77. Squadron and No. 75 Squadron. He is a Fighter Combat Instructor with in excess of 2000 hours fighter experience and from 1996 to 1998, Quaife commanded No. 77 Squadron. Between 1992 and 1994, Quaife served as a fast jet specialist officer in the Force Development Directorate of the Australian Defence Headquarters, primarily in developing the proposal for the acquisition of Hawk aircraft for Lead-in Fighter training. In 1999, Air Vice Marshal Quaife returned to that headquarters as the Director of Aerospace Combat Development. During 2001, Quaife directed the Air Combat Group project. In this role he directed a small team that planned the amalgamation of RAAF fast jet operations into a single

Force Element Group Force Element Groups (FEGs) are the operational capabilities of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as organised into component groups. Each of the component commands has a set of FEGs. The FEG operational commanders report to the component com ...

. In January 2002, he was appointed to command the newly created Air Combat Group. During his tenure, Air Combat Group units deployed for Operations Slipper and Falconer.Bio as Joint Force Air Component Commander
/ref> In January 2004, Quaife was appointed the RAAF's first permanent Joint Force Air Component Commander. In this appointment he was responsible for developing Air Operations Centre functionality within the Australian Theatre air component. Between December 2004 and April 2005, Air Vice Marshal Quaife served as the director of the United States Combined Air Operations Centre, where he was responsible for orchestrating coalition air power in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Quaife was appointed a

Member 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 the 2004

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

Honours.It's an Honour
– Member of the Order of Australia – 26 January 2004
Citation: ''For exceptional service to the Australian Defence Force as the fast-jet specialist officer in the fields of Air Combat Capability Development and Force Structuring and the application of Air Combat power.'' He was promoted to the rank of

air vice marshal Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries which have historical British infl ...

in June 2005, and appointed as

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 August 2007, he accepted the appointment of Head of Capability Systems. He held this position until his retirement from the Air Force in 2008.

References

External links

Speech delivered by Quaife
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quaife, John 1955 births Air Commanders (Australia) Australian aviators Australian military personnel of the Iraq War La Trobe University alumni Living people Members of the Order of Australia Military personnel from Melbourne Royal Australian Air Force air marshals