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 Head Force Integration from 2017 to 2019, before being appointed

Deputy Chief of Air Force Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spa ...

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 Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University Ai ...

in 1986 and trained as a

. On the completion of his training, he was posted to

No. 37 Squadron RAAF No. 37 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) medium tactical airlift squadron. It operates Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules aircraft from RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales. The squadron has seen active service flying transport a ...

RAAF Base Richmond RAAF Base Richmond is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located within the City of Hawkesbury, approximately North-West of the Sydney Central Business District in New South Wales, Australia. Situated between the towns of W ...

, serving aboard

Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...

transport aircraft. In December 1990, Meredith was among a detachment from No. 37 Squadron deployed in support of 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 The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included ground attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons c ...

and was posted to No. 1 Squadron RAAF at

RAAF Base Amberley RAAF Base Amberley is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located southwest of Ipswich, Queensland in Australia and southwest of Brisbane CBD. It is currently home to No. 1 Squadron (operating the F/A-18F Super Hornet), N ...

. Meredith was posted as an instructor navigator in

from 1995 and, on promotion to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

, was assigned to the Defence Material Organisation in 1998. He returned to No. 6 Squadron as

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

in 1999, graduated from the

Australian Command and Staff College The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Ce ...

in 2002, and was posted as staff officer to the

. Promoted

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

, 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 Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

in 2008, Meredith was appointed Officer Commanding No. 42 Wing RAAF. In this role, he was part of the team that introduced the 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 The Australian contribution to the war in Afghanistan has been known as Operation Slipper (2001–2014) and Operation Highroad (2015-2021). Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations and the size of the forces deployed have varied and ADF invol ...

, Australia's contribution to the

. He returned to Australia as chief of staff to the Chief of the Defence Force, completed the Defence and Strategic Studies Course at the

Australian Defence College The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: * the War College, * the Australian Defence Force Training Ce ...

in 2013 and, promoted air commodore, was appointed Deputy Air Commander. He was then posted as Commander

in December 2014 and as the first commander of the

Air Warfare Centre RAAF The Air Warfare Centre (AWC) is a Force Element Group of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) based at RAAF Base Edinburgh. It was formerly titled the Aerospace Operational Support Group (AOSG) and was reformed into the AWC in 2016. The role o ...

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 The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the

2016 Australia Day Honours The 2016 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 2016 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove. The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, announced on Australia Day (26 January), wit ...

. 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 Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours. Following his return to Australia, Meredith was promoted

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 ...

and appointed Head Force Integration in the 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 The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

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)