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 countries which have historical British influence and it is sometime ...

Paul Douglas Luker, is a former

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 Commander of

Joint Helicopter Command The Joint Aviation Command (JAC), previously known as Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of all three services of the British Armed Forces and unmanned aerial vehicles of the B ...

from 2002 to 2005.

RAF career

Luker joined the

(RAF) in 1968, trained as a support helicopter pilot and served in Hong Kong,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

and

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

.Biography: Air Vice-Marshal Paul Douglas Luker
Blind Veterans He became Officer Commanding No. 7 Squadron and then Station Commander at

RAF Odiham Royal Air Force Odiham or more simply RAF Odiham is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station situated a little to the south of the village of Odiham in Hampshire, England. It is the home of the Royal Air Force's heavy lift he ...

. After attending 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 went on to be Director of Overseas Military Activity 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 1998 and then Commander of

in 2002, and latterly served for seven months as Deputy Commanding General of the US-led coalition in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

before retiring in 2006.

Other interests

From 2006 to 2016 Luker served as Chief Executive of the Council of Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations, Secretary General of the UK Reserve Forces Association and, for the final five years acted as Clerk to the RFCA External Scrutiny Team, drafting their annual report to Parliament. He served as Chairman of

Blind Veterans UK Blind Veterans UK, formerly St Dunstan's, is a large British charity, providing free support and services to vision-impaired ex-servicemen and women and Conscription in the United Kingdom, National Service personnel. Blind Veterans UK is a Charit ...

from 2017 to 2021, and is a Deputy Lieutenant for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, and Honorary President of the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wing of the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luker, Paul 1951 births Companions of the Order of the Bath Deputy lieutenants of Hampshire Living people Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of the Gulf War Royal Air Force personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)