Air Chief Marshal

Air Chief Marshal

Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 Sir Glenn Lester Torpy, GCB, CBE, DSO

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

, ADC

Aide-de-camp

An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...

 (born 27 July 1953, Ely

Ely, Cambridgeshire

Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...

) is a retired senior 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...

 commander. He was a fast jet pilot in the late 1970s and 1980s, a senior officer in the early 1990s and a senior commander in the late 1990s and 2000s. He served as Chief of the Air Staff, the professional head of the RAF, from 2006 to 2009.
Glenn Torpy 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...

 as a Pilot Officer

Pilot Officer

Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...

 on 8 September 1974 after obtaining a BSc

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College London

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

.

His early career, after he left the RAF College Cranwell, involved flying duties on Jaguar

SEPECAT Jaguar

The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet ground attack aircraft, originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Armée de l'Air in the close air support and nuclear strike role, and still in service with several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force...

 aircraft before qualifying as a weapons instructor

Qualified Weapons Instructor

Qualified Weapons Instructor is a qualification given to graduates of the Royal Air Force or Royal Navy Qualified Weapons Instructor courses...

 on Hawk aircraft.

His early commands included a tour as a Squadron Leader on Tornado

Panavia Tornado

The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...

 aircraft before being appointed Officer Commanding No.