Richard Garwood Air Marshal Richard Frank Garwood CB CBE DFC is a senior Royal Air Force officer , currently serving as Director - General of the Military Aviation Authority . He was appointed Deputy Commander - in - Chief ( Operations ) at RAF Air Command in April 2010 , initially on an acting basis - having served for less than a year as Chief of Staff ( Operations ) - following the reassignment of Air Marshal Tim Anderson as Director General of the new Military Aviation Authority , and pending the appointment of Air Marshal Andrew Pulford . However , following the sudden death of the then Commander - in - Chief Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Moran , Pulford was in turn reassigned and Garwood promoted to Air Marshal and confirmed in post . Garwood was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in the Gulf , and appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath ( CB ) in the 2010 Birthday Honours . Service career . Garwood graduated from King ' s College London with an MA in Defence Studies . He was commissioned in 1979 , being regraded on completion of Initial Officer Training and promoted to Flying Officer during his flying training , on completion of which he was posted to 41 ( F ) Squadron at RAF Coltishall to fly the Jaguar aircraft in the Ground Attack / Reconnaissance role . In 1985 Garwood was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and moved to the Tactical Weapons Unit at RAF Brawdy to instruct students on the Hawk aircraft , becoming a Qualified Weapons Instructor . In 1987 Garwood began an exchange tour with the USAF , flying the RF - 4C Phantom from Bergstrom Air Force Base in Texas . On his return in 1990 he converted to the Tornado GR1 before being posted as a Squadron Leader to II ( Army Cooperation ) Squadron at RAF Laarbruch in West Germany , being deployed to Saudi Arabia shortly after his arrival , for Operation Granby . He flew 19 night low - level reconnaissance sorties during the battle phase of the operation and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross . In 1993 Garwood moved to the Ministry of Defence as a staff officer in Operational Requirements ( Air ) and then , in 1995 , attended the Army Staff College at Camberley . In the same year he was promoted to Wing Commander and returned to II ( AC ) Squadron , now at RAF Marham , as its Commanding Officer . His time in command included many detachments to patrol the No - Fly Zones over Iraq . This was followed by a staff appointment at the Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood On promotion to Group Captain in 2000 Garwood returned to Marham as Station Commander , this tour including deployment to East Africa as Commander British Forces during Operation Ramson , carrying out air operations over the Horn of Africa in support of Operation Veritas in Afghanistan ; he was appointed CBE in 2002 . Garwood attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2003 before deploying to Qatar to become the first post - combat phase Air Component Commander for Operation Telic in Iraq . He returned to the UK in late 2003 to become Air Commodore Force Elements at No . 1 Group , his promotion to that rank coming in January 2004 . In that year he returned to the Ministry of Defence as Director of Air Staff , completing the Higher Command and Staff Course as part of his tour . In February 2007 he was posted on temporary duty as the Chief of Defence Staff ’ s Liaison Officer to the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , returning in July of that year to the appointment of Air Officer Commanding No . 22 ( Training ) Group ( and the concurrent appointment of Chief of Staff Training ) in the rank of Air Vice - Marshal . In July 2009 Garwood was appointed Chief of Staff Operations at Air Command and then , in April 2010 , Acting Deputy Commander - in - Chief Operations following the reassignment of Air Marshal Tim Anderson - who was due to take up the appointment - to set up the Military Aviation Authority . Garwood was due to hand over this appointment to Air Marshal Andrew Pulford in September but the sudden death of the then Commander - in - Chief , Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Moran , resulted in Pulford in turn being reassigned , and Garwood ' s promotion to Air Marshal in June to take on the role on a permanent basis . In the same month Garwood was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath . Garwood became Director - General of the Military Aviation Authority on 1 May 2013 .