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 ...

Suraya Antonia Marshall, (born 1973) 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. She served as Air Officer Commanding

No. 2 Group RAF No. 2 Group is a 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 reactivated in 2000, and is today part of Air Comm ...

from October 2021 to March 2024, and was appointed

Assistant Chief of the Air Staff The Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (ACAS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force. The current ACAS is Air Vice-Marshal Suraya Marshall. The post was originally established circa February 1938, but without being made a member of the A ...

in June 2024.

Early life and education

Marshall born in 1973 in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, Yorkshire, England. She was educated at

Queen Margaret's School, York Established in 1901, Queen Margaret's (QM) is an independent Boarding school, boarding and day school for girls aged 11–18 set in 75 acres of parkland, six miles south of York. History Queen Margaret's was established in 1901 in Scarborough, ...

, a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

. She then studied law at

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LLB) degree in 1994. While at university, she was a member of the East Midlands

University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons (UAS), are Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF. That offers training and flight training to university students, with the goal of attracting students into a ca ...

Military career

Marshall joined the

(RAF) as a navigator, and was commissioned with the rank of

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 9 October 1994. She completed an MA from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

in 2000. She flew in the

Tornado F3 The Panavia Tornado Air Defence Variant (ADV) is a long-range, twin-engine swing-wing interceptor aircraft developed by the European Panavia Aircraft GmbH consortium. It was a specialised derivative of the multirole Panavia Tornado. Developme ...

, and in 2000 became the first woman to pass the Qualified Weapons Instructor Course for the Tornado F3. She served as

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. 92 Squadron RAF Number 92 Squadron, also known as No. 92 (East India) Squadron and currently as No. 92 Tactics and Training Squadron, of the Royal Air Force is a test and evaluation squadron based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. It was formed as part of the ...

and No. 55 Squadron RAF. She was Director of Coalition Air Operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan during 2019. In November 2019, Marshall was appointed Commandant of the

Royal Air Force College Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and is resp ...

, the RAF's aircrew and officer training academy, holding the rank of

air commodore Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) 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 sometimes ...

. On 6 October 2021 she was promoted to

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 ...

and appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 2 Group: she is the first woman to command one of the RAF's two operational groups. As of November 2021, she is the highest ranking

BAME A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...

person in the British military. She was appointed a

Commander 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 ...

in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...

. In May 2024, Marshall was announced as the next

, in succession to Air Vice-Marshal Tim Jones. She took up the appointment in June 2024.

Personal life

Marshall is married to Air Marshal

Allan Marshall Allan Marshall (9 November 1851 – 31 March 1915) was a New Zealand river captain and river engineer. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngati Pou and Waikato iwi. He was born in Mercer in the North Island The North Island ( , ...

, and together they have two children.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Suraya 1973 births 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel 21st-century Royal Air Force personnel Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the University of Nottingham British flight instructors Flight navigators British women aviators Commandants of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Female air marshals of the Royal Air Force Living people People educated at Queen Margaret's School, York Royal Air Force personnel of the Iraq War Royal Air Force personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Women academic administrators Women in the Royal Air Force

Early life and education

Military career

Personal life

See also

References