Air Marshal Stephen Jeffrey Shell, is a senior

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. He has served as director general of the Defence Safety Authority (DSA) since January 2022. He had served as director of the

Military Aviation Authority The Military Aviation Authority (MAA) is an organisation within the British Ministry of Defence and is the single regulatory authority responsible for regulating all aspects of Air Safety across Defence, with full oversight of all Defence aviati ...

from 2018 to 2021.

RAF career

Shell was commissioned in the General Duties Branch of the

on 5 May 1988 as an acting pilot officer. He was regraded to

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

on 5 May 1989, promoted to

flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

on 5 May 1990, and to flight lieutenant on 5 November 1993. He trained and served as a Chinook pilot. In the half yearly promotions, he was promoted to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

on 1 July 1998, and to

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

on 1 January 2003. He was

officer commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

No. 27 Squadron RAF from 2005 to 2007, during which the squadron was involved in evacuating British citizens from Lebanon and deployed to

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 ...

as part of

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assi ...

. From 2009 to 2011, he was station commander of

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 ...

and

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the UK Chinook Force. On 12 December 2018, Shell was appointed director of the

. On 7 January 2022, he was appointed director general of the Defence Safety Authority (DSA) and promoted to air marshal. In 2006, Shell was awarded the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

by the United States "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq". In July 2007, he was awarded the

Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service The King's Commendation for Valuable Service is a British military award for meritorious service in an operational theatre. It was established in 1994, when the award of the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct and the Queen's Commendation f ...

"in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Afghanistan during the period 1st October 2006 to 31st March 2007". In the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

, he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE). In 2018, he received the

Royal Air Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal The Royal Air Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal is a medal awarded to regular members of the Royal Air Force in recognition of long service. It was instituted by George V, King George V in 1919, the year following the establishment of t ...

with 1 Clasp (i.e. 15 years plus 10 years service). In the

2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, he was appointed an

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

(CB).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shell, Stephen Jeffrey Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British aviators Royal Air Force air marshals Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service Foreign recipients of United States military awards and decorations Officers of the Order of the British Empire