page_title: James Rowland (RAAF officer)
section_title: Post-war RAAF career
hierarchical_section_title: James Rowland (RAAF officer) / Post-war RAAF career
caption_attribution_description: Dassalt Mirage III (A3-16) on static display at the the Classic Jets Fighter Museum, Parafield airport, Adelaide, South Australia. This plane only flew until the early 1970s due to a wheels-up landing at Tullmarine Airport, Melbourne.
context_page_description: Air Marshal Sir James Anthony Rowland, AC, KBE, DFC, AFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force, serving as Chief of the Air Staff from 1975 to 1979. He later held office as Governor of New South Wales from 1981 to 1989, and was Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1990 to 1991. Born in rural New South Wales, Rowland cut short his aeronautical engineering studies at the University of Sydney to join the RAAF in 1942. He was posted to Britain and served as a bomber pilot with the Pathfinders in the air war over Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. The following year he was forced to bail out over Germany following a collision with another Allied aircraft, and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.
  After repatriation and demobilisation, Rowland gained his engineering degree and rejoined the RAAF. He became a test pilot, serving with and later commanding the Aircraft Research and Development Unit in the 1950s, and also a senior engineering officer, being closely involved in preparations for delivery to Australia of the Dassault Mirage III supersonic fighter in the 1960s.
context_section_description: Rowland's commission was terminated in November 1945. Returning to Australia, he resumed his studies at the University of Sydney and completed his degree, before rejoining the RAAF as a member of its newly formed Technical Branch in 1947. He was posted to Britain in 1949 to attend the Empire Test Pilots' School. In 1952, he was appointed chief test pilot with the Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) at RAAF Base Laverton, Victoria. Rowland led trial programs that involved many of the Air Force's early jets such as the Gloster Meteor, de Havilland Vampire, English Electric Canberra, and CAC Sabre. Promoted to squadron leader, he earned the Air Force Cross for his test flying achievements; the award was gazetted on 1 January 1955. He married Faye Doughton on 20 April 1955; the couple had a daughter, Anni.
  Rowland attended RAAF Staff College, Point Cook, in 1956. Promoted to wing commander, he took charge of ARDU from November 1956 until June 1959. In 1957, he raised concerns that the supersonic Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, touted as a multi-role replacement for the Sabre, was ill-suited for any purpose except interception. The Defence Minister, Sir Philip McBride, had reached a similar conclusion and kept the Sabre in frontline service until a more suitable aircraft could be chosen, namely the Dassault Mirage III delta-wing fighter. From 1961 to 1964 Rowland was based in Paris, as Technical Staff Officer on the RAAF team preparing for the Mirage's acceptance into Australian service. In contrast to most of the team members, he displayed a talent for language and by his second year was chairing meetings in French with Dassault engineers. After returning to Australia, he was posted to the Directorate of Aircraft Engineering at the Department of Air, Canberra, responsible for ongoing technical oversight of the Mirage.
  In December 1966, Rowland became commanding officer of No. 3 Aircraft Depot (No. 3 AD) at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, with the acting rank of group captain; his promotion was made substantive in November 1967. After completing his tenure at No. 3 AD in January 1969, Rowland was appointed Senior Engineering Staff Officer at Headquarters Operational Command in Glenbrook, New South Wales. In 1971 he was posted to Britain to attend the Royal College of Defence Studies, London. Returning to Australia, he was Director-General of Aircraft Engineering before being promoted to air vice marshal to serve as Air Member for Technical Services (AMTS), the RAAF's senior engineering position, in November 1972. The AMTS occupied a seat on the Australian Air Board, the service's controlling body that was chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS).
  In March 1975, Rowland was raised to air marshal and took over from Air Marshal Charles Read as CAS, becoming the first appointee to the position who had joined the RAAF after the commencement of World War II. He was also the first engineering officer to lead the RAAF, and was selected over a more senior air vice marshal through the personal influence of the Defence Secretary, Sir Arthur Tange. The CAS was nevertheless required to be a member of the Air Force's aircrew stream so Rowland, still a qualified pilot, had to transfer from the Technical Branch to the General Duties Branch. Soon afterwards, the stipulation for the CAS to be a member of the General Duties Branch was removed.
  In 1976, Rowland became the first CAS to personally command the RAAF in a legal sense, following dissolution of the Air Board, a consequence of defence reorganisation in the wake of the 1973 "Tange report" that recommended departmental rationalisation. A new Chief of the Air Staff Advisory Committee (CASAC) was set up, but there was no requirement for the CAS to accept its advice. According to historian Alan Stephens, Rowland considered that the "collective wisdom" engendered by the Air Board had been generally beneficial to the RAAF, and believed the new arrangements led to "'paralysis and arrogation of decision making', and empire building in the Public Service component". Though known as a str
caption: RAAF Mirage fighter in ARDU livery
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