Air Marshal

Air Marshal

Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 Andrew Douglas Pulford CBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 is a Royal Air Force officer, currently serving as Deputy Commander-in-Chief Personnel at Air Command

RAF Air Command

Air Command is the only Command currently active in the Royal Air Force. 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, Buckinghamshire....

 and also as Air Member for Personnel.

Service career

Pulford joined the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 in 1977 and spent many of his flying hours with No. 18 Squadron

No. 18 Squadron RAF

No. 18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the CH-47 Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham. No. 18 Squadron was the first and is currently the largest RAF operator of the Chinook.-First World War:...

.

He was appointed Station Commander RAF Odiham

RAF Odiham

RAF Odiham is a Royal Air Force station situated a little to the south of the historic small village of Odiham in Hampshire, England. It is the home of the Royal Air Force's heavy lift helicopter, the Chinook HC2, HC2A and HC3...

 in December 2001 and was deployed as Commander Joint Helicopter Force

Joint Helicopter Command

Joint Helicopter Command is a tri-service organisation uniting military helicopters of the British Armed Forces for command and coordination purposes...

 Headquarters (JHFHQ) for Operation Telic

Operation Telic

Operation TELIC was the codename under which all British military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the Invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on 22 May 2011...

 in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. He was made Director Air Resources and Plans at the Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

 in 2004 and then Air Officer Commanding

Air Officer Commanding

Air Officer Commanding is a title given in the air forces of Commonwealth nations to an air officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, an air vice marshal might be the AOC 38 Group...

 No. 2 Group

No. 2 Group RAF

Number 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 Command....

in 2007. Pulford then served as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff Operations for two years until his appointment as Deputy Commander-in-Chief Personnel at Air Command in 2010.

Career Chronology

• Jan 1977: Commissioned as Acting Pilot Officer
• Jan 1978: Regraded Pilot Officer
• Jan 1979: Promoted Flying Officer
• Jul 1981: Promoted Flight Lieutenant
• Jan 1987: Promoted Squadron Leader
• Jan 1994: Promoted Wing Commander
• Jan 2000: Promoted Group Captain
• Jun 2004: Appointed CBE
• Jan 2005: Promoted Air Commodore
• Feb 2007: Promoted Air Vice Marshal; appointed Air Officer Commanding, No. 2 Group
• Sep 2008: Appointed Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff Operations
• Sep 2010: Promoted Air Marshal; appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief Personnel, Air Command (and Air Member for Personnel)