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 ...

Peter James Stockwell, is a retired senior

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

(RNZAF) commander and former Chief of Air Force.

Career

Stockwell joined the RNZAF in January 1973 as a navigator. On the completion of his navigator training, Stockwell was posted to No. 1 Squadron, which flew the B170 Bristol Freighter at that time. He later held flying posts on

No. 41 Squadron RNZAF No. 41 Squadron was a transport unit of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). The squadron was formed in 1944, and conducted transport flights in the south Pacific during World War II. It remained active after the war, and flew supplies to th ...

based in Singapore and No. 40 Squadron RNZAF based at

RNZAF Base Auckland RNZAF Base Auckland is a Royal New Zealand Air Force base located near the upper reaches of the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. The base formerly comprised two separate airfields, Whenuapai and RNZAF Station Hobsonville. Hobsonvill ...

Whenuapai Whenuapai is a suburb and aerodrome located in northwestern Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the shore of the Upper Waitematā Harbour, 15 kilometres to the northwest of Auckland's city centre. It is one of the l ...

. On 1 May 2011, Stockwell was appointed Chief of Air Force in succession to Air Vice Marshal

Graham Lintott Air Vice Marshal Graham Brian Lintott, (born 29 March 1955) is a retired senior commander in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and former Chief of Air Force (New Zealand), Chief of Air Force. He is now the Managing Director of Strategy and ...

. Stockwell's tenure ended on 1 May 2014, at which point he retired from the RNZAF following 41 years of service. Stockwell went on to become CTC Aviation's (now L3Harris) managing director. Stockwell was awarded the Air Force Cross in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours. In the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have r ...

, for services to the

New Zealand Defence Force The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; , "Line of Defence of New Zealand") is the three-branched military of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and its realm, promoting its interests, ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stockwell, Peter Living people Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Royal New Zealand Air Force air marshals Year of birth missing (living people)