Air Marshal Gavin Neil "Leo" Davies, (born 5 September 1960) 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). A

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...

who retrained as a pilot, he joined the RAAF in 1979, commanded No. 1 Squadron RAAF (2002–03) and No. 82 Wing RAAF (2004–05), deployed to

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 ...

in 2007, and was Australia's air

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 ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

(2010–11). He served as Deputy Chief of Air Force from 2012 to 2015 and succeeded Air Marshal Geoff Brown as Chief of Air Force, the professional head of the RAAF, in July 2015. He retired from the RAAF in July 2019.

Early life

Gavin Neil Davies was born on 5 September 1960 in Kerang, Victoria. In 1979, he joined the

(RAAF) as a cadet

Military career

Following initial training, Davies was posted to No. 11 Squadron RAAF at

RAAF Base Edinburgh RAAF Base Edinburgh is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Military airfield, military airbase located in Edinburgh, South Australia, Edinburgh approximately north of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia and forms part of the Edinburgh Defenc ...

in Edinburgh, South Australia, serving aboard Lockheed P-3B Orion and later P-3C Orion aircraft. He retrained as a pilot in 1987 and, after completing a conversion course on the General Dynamics F-111C, was posted to No. 1 Squadron RAAF at

RAAF Base Amberley RAAF Base Amberley is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located southwest of Ipswich, Queensland in Australia and southwest of Brisbane CBD. It is the largest military airbase in Australia. Amberley is one of two defence ...

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is an urban centre within the City of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River (Queensland), Bremer River, it is approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. Ipswich is ...

, from 1988 to 1990. He was next posted on a three-year exchange with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, operating General Dynamics F-111D aircraft from Cannon Air Force Base in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. Davies returned to Australia in 1993 as Operations Flight Commander for No. 1 Squadron. A posting as Operations Officer with No. 82 Wing RAAF followed, before he returned to No. 1 Squadron as

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

from 1997 to 1998. He graduated from the RAAF Staff Course at RAAF Fairbairn in 1999 and, from 2000 to 2002, served in the Capability Systems division at

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

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 ...

. Davies was again posted to RAAF Base Amberley from 2002, serving as commanding officer of No. 1 Squadron. During his period in command, Davies achieved the milestone of 2000 hours flying the F-111. He served as Staff Officer to the Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal

Angus Houston Air chief marshal (Australia), Air Chief Marshal Sir Allan Grant "Angus" Houston, (born 9 June 1947) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Air Force. He served as Chief of Air Force (Australia), Chief of Air Force from 20 June 2 ...

, in 2004, was posted as officer commanding No. 82 Wing at RAAF Base Amberley from 2004 to 2005, and was Director Combat Capability at RAAF Headquarters from 2006 to 2007. He deployed for service with the Combined Air Operations Centre later that year, working in support of operations in

. Following his return to Australia, Davies became Director General Capability Planning at RAAF Headquarters in 2008. In the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the King's Official Birthday, reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into Order (honour), national or Dynastic order of knighthood, dy ...

that June, he was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for his "outstanding achievement" while in command of No. 82 Wing. In 2010, he was posted as Australia's air

, for which he was awarded the Officer of the Legion of Merit from the United States government. On his return from the United States, Davies was promoted

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 ...

and became Deputy Chief of Air Force in January 2012. Davies' "distinguished service" in senior command and staff positions was recognised with his appointment as 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 the 2014 Australia Day Honours. The citation described Davies as "the epitome of professionalism who has distinguished himself through exceptional leadership in shaping the Royal Australian Air Force of the future". The following year, he was selected as the next Chief of Air Force (CAF); the professional head of the RAAF. He was promoted air marshal and succeeded Air Marshal Geoff Brown as CAF on 4 July 2015. Davies was awarded Singapore's Meritorious Service Medal in October 2016 and, in September 2018, he was appointed an Officer of the Legion of Honour by the French government. Davies handed over as Chief of Air Force to Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld on 3 July 2019, and retired from the RAAF after a 40-year career.

Personal life

Davies is married to Rhonda. They have two children, a son and a daughter.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Leo 1960 births Australian military personnel of the Iraq War Living people Officers of the Legion of Merit Officers of the Order of Australia Officers of the Legion of Honour People from Kerang Recipients of the Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera) Military personnel from Victoria (state) Royal Australian Air Force air marshals Chiefs of Air Force (Australia)