Air Command is the only
Command
Command may refer to:
Computing
* Command (computing), a statement in a computer language
* COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS
* Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards
...
currently active in the
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 ...
. It was formed by the merger of Royal Air Force
Strike and
Personnel and Training commands on 1 April 2007, and has its headquarters at
RAF High Wycombe
RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It houses Headquarters Air Command, and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s. ...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...
.
The equivalent in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
is
Navy Command Headquarters at
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...
and the equivalent in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
is
Army Headquarters at
Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
*Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* And ...
.
Command structure
Air Command is commanded by the
Chief of the Air Staff. Formerly, it was under a four-star Air Chief Marshal,
Commander-in-Chief, Air Command, but this structure was discontinued due to the 2011 Levine Report.
There are two Deputy Commanders of
Air Marshal rank. The
Deputy Commander Operations has responsibility for the two
Groups inherited from Strike Command (
No. 1 Group and
No. 2 Group
No. 2 Group is a Group (military aviation unit)#United Kingdom, group of the Royal Air Force which was first activated in 1918, served from 1918–20, from 1936 through the Second World War to 1947, from 1948 to 1958, from 1993 to 1996, was react ...
) and also
No. 38 Group which brings together the RAF’s expeditionary engineering, logistics, and communications units, Medical Operations units, and RAF Music Services. The Deputy Commander Operations also has responsibility for the Group inherited from Personnel and Training Command,
No. 22 (Training) Group
No. 22 Group is one of five groups currently active in the Royal Air Force, falling under the responsibility of Deputy Commander-in-Chief (Personnel) in Air Command. Its previous title up until 2018 was No. 22 (Training) Group. It is responsib ...
. In November 2018,
No. 11 Group was further formed as part of RAF Command. The Deputy Commander Operations acts as the Deputy to the CAS and oversees day-to-day operations The
Deputy Commander Capability commands Chief of Staff Personnel or
Air Secretary
The Air Secretary and Chief of Staff, Personnel is the Royal Air Force officer with responsibility for appointments, promotions, postings, and discipline of high ranking members of the British air force. From 1978 to 1983 the Air Secretary was ...
, Chief of Staff Capability,
RAF Chaplain-in-Chief, Director Legal Services and Head RAF Medical Services.
Commanders-in-Chief (post discontinued in Spring 2012)
*Air Chief Marshal
Sir Clive Loader KCB OBE, 30 March 2007
[RAF Air Rank Appointments List 08/06 of 25 Sep 2006](_blank)
retrieved 3 Jan 2011 – 2 April 2009 (appointed as C-in-C Strike Command)
*Air Chief Marshal
Sir Christopher Moran KCB OBE MVO, 3 April 2009
[RAF Air Rank Appointments List 07/08 of 16 Oct 2008](_blank)
retrieved 3 Jan 2011 – 26 May 2010
Announcement of ACM Moran's death
retrieved 27 May 2010 (Died in office)
*Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant KCB CBE, 18 June 2010[RAF Air Rank Appointments List 04/10 of 18 Jun 2010](_blank)
retrieved 3 Jan 2011 to March 2012
See also
* List of Royal Air Force commands
This is a list of Royal Air Force commands, both past and present. Although the concept of a command dates back to the foundation of the Royal Air Force, the term command (as the name of a formation) was first used in purely RAF-context in 1936 w ...
References
External links
RAF Air Command
News items
Royal Air Force Web Site - Official Announcement of Formation of RAF Air Command
, -
{{United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, state=collapsed
High Wycombe
Military units and formations established in 2007
Organisations based in Buckinghamshire
Air Command
2007 establishments in the United Kingdom
Military headquarters in the United Kingdom
UK