Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by 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 u ...

Stephen Leslie Meredith, is a senior officer in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF). He joined the RAAF as a

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

in 1986. He has commanded

No. 6 Squadron RAAF No. 6 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) training and bomber squadron. It was formed in 1917 and served as a training unit based in England during World War I. The squadron was disbanded in 1919 but re-formed at the start of ...

(2006–08), No. 42 Wing RAAF (2008–10), the

Aerospace Operational Support Group RAAF The Aerospace Operational Support Group was a support group of the Australian Defence Force based at RAAF Base Edinburgh. It was disbanded in 2016, and reformed as the Air Warfare Centre The Air and Space Warfare Centre (ASWC) is a Royal A ...

(2014–16) and the

Combined Air Operations Centre Combined Air Operations Centres (CAOCs) are multinational headquarters for tactical and operational control of NATO Air Forces below the Joint Force Command level''. They operate within the NATO Integrated Air Defense System (NATINADS) framework. ...

(2017), and has served on operations in the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

and in the

International military intervention against ISIL In response to rapid territorial gains made by the so-called Islamic State during the first half of 2014, and its universally condemned executions, reported human rights abuses and the fear of further spillovers of the Syrian Civil War, many s ...

. He served as Vice Chief of the Defence Force (Australia)#VCDF Group, Head Force Integration from 2017 to 2019, before being appointed Deputy Chief of Air Force (Australia), Deputy Chief of Air Force in July 2019.

RAAF career

Meredith joined the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) as an officer cadet in 1986 and trained as a

. On the completion of his training, he was posted to No. 37 Squadron RAAF at RAAF Base Richmond, serving aboard Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. In December 1990, Meredith was among a detachment from No. 37 Squadron deployed in support of Australian contribution to the 1991 Gulf War, Australia's contribution to the Gulf War. Following his return to Australia in 1991, he completed a conversion course on the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark and was posted to No. 1 Squadron RAAF at RAAF Base Amberley. Meredith was posted as an instructor navigator in

from 1995 and, on promotion to squadron leader, was assigned to the Defence Material Organisation in 1998. He returned to No. 6 Squadron as executive officer in 1999, graduated from the Australian Command and Staff College in 2002, and was posted as staff officer to the Deputy Chief of Air Force (Australia), Deputy Chief of Air Force. Promoted Wing commander (rank), wing commander, he was made Deputy Director of Combat Enablers in the Capability Development Group in 2003. He was next appointed executive officer of No. 82 Wing RAAF in January 2006, before assuming command of No. 6 Squadron from December that year. While in command of No. 6 Squadron, Meredith oversaw the retirement of the F-111G. Promoted group captain in 2008, Meredith was appointed Officer Commanding No. 42 Wing RAAF. In this role, he was part of the team that introduced the Boeing 737 AEW&C, Boeing E-7A Wedgetail into Australian service. Following wing command, Meredith deployed to the Middle East as a Battle Director in the

as part of Operation Slipper, Australia's contribution to the

. He returned to Australia as chief of staff to the Chief of the Defence Force (Australia), Chief of the Defence Force, completed the Defence and Strategic Studies Course at the Australian Defence College in 2013 and, promoted air commodore, was appointed RAAF Air Command, Deputy Air Commander. He was then posted as Commander

in December 2014 and as the first commander of the Air Warfare Centre RAAF from January 2016. In recognition of his "inspirational leadership, remarkable managerial skill, and extraordinary systems thinking" in these roles, Meredith was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2016 Australia Day Honours. In January 2017, Meredith redeployed to the Middle East as Director of the Combined Air Operations Centre. His "distinguished leadership" during the six-month posting was recognised with the award of the Distinguished Service Medal (Australia), Distinguished Service Medal in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia), 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours. Following his return to Australia, Meredith was promoted Air vice marshal (Australia), air vice marshal and appointed Head Force Integration in the Vice Chief of the Defence Force (Australia)#VCDF Group, Vice Chief of the Defence Force Group in December 2017. After eighteen months in this joint service role, he succeeded Air Vice Marshal Gavin Turnbull as Deputy Chief of Air Force on 1 July 2019.

Personal life

Meredith is married to Sue and has two children. He is an enthusiastic fisherman and a fan of the Brumbies rugby team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Stephen Australian military personnel of the Gulf War Australian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Living people Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) Royal Australian Air Force air marshals Year of birth missing (living people)