Barry North Air Marshal Barry Mark ' Baz ' North OBE is a senior Royal Air Force officer , currently serving as Deputy Commander ( Personnel ) at RAF Air Command . He was a helicopter pilot , and has held command appointments at all levels , notably 78 Squadron in the Falkland Islands and the Special Forces Flight as a Squadron Leader and the newly established No . 83 Expeditionary Air Group in the Middle East as an Air Commodore . Service career . Following an HND in Business Studies at Trent Polytechnic ( a predecessor of Nottingham Trent University ) , North was commissioned as an Acting Pilot Officer in July 1982 - initially on a Short Service Commission - having won two trophies during Initial Officer Training . He was regraded to Pilot Officer in July 1983 during his flying training , and promoted to Flying Officer in July 1984 prior to being posted to 72 Squadron in Northern Ireland in August of that year to fly the Westland Wessex . He transferred to a Permanent Commission in September 1986 and was promoted to Flight Lieutenant in January 1987 , converting to the Chinook before beginning his first tour with the Special Forces Flight of 7 Squadron at RAF Odiham in March . He then served as Aide - de - Camp to the Chief of the Defence Staff , Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir David Craig from December 1988 until March 1991 , being promoted to Squadron Leader in January 1991 , before taking command of 78 Squadron in the Falkland Islands , flying both the Chinook and Sea King aircraft , in July . North returned to the Special Forces Flight in September 1992 as its commander , and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1996 Birthday Honours List , having relinquished that command and joined the Army Command and Staff Course in March . He was awarded an Master in Defence Studies in 1997 , having taken up the post of Personal Staff Officer to the Air Officer Commanding No . 1 Group in December 1996 , serving Air Vice Marshal s John Day and ' Jock ' Stirrup in that role , until his promotion to Wing Commander in July 1998 , and a transfer to Headquarters Strike Command as Wing Commander Operations . In October 1999 North took command of 33 Squadron , flying the Puma aircraft from RAF Benson , leading the squadron on the first operation of the newly formed Joint Helicopter Command ( JHC ) providing humanitarian aid to the people of Mozambique following catastrophic flooding in early 2000 . In May 2002 North moved to Headquarters JHC as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff - Personnel , Policy & Plans and Communications , his promotion to Group Captain following in January 2003 . Having led the planning for JHC ' s role in the invasion of Iraq , he was promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2003 New Year Honours List . In April 2004 he was appointed the Station Commander of RAF Aldergrove , also concurrently holding the positions of Senior RAF Officer Northern Ireland and Commander Joint Helicopter Force Northern Ireland . In 2006 , as an Acting Air Commodore , North became the first commander of the newly established No . 83 Expeditionary Air Group , formed to control all RAF air assets within the Middle East theatre of operations , including the commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan ; he received a Queen ' s Commendation for Valuable Service in December of that year . In January 2007 North received his substantive promotion to Air Commodore and was appointed Head of Air Resources and Plans at the Ministry of Defence . North was promoted to Air Vice Marshal and appointed Air Officer Commanding No . 22 ( Training ) Group in July 2009 , becoming Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in March 2010 . He was promoted to Air Marshal and appointed Deputy Commander ( Personnel ) at RAF Air Command on 3 May 2013 . Personal . North was born in September 1959 and educated at Carre ' s Grammar School in Sleaford . He was awarded ' Alumnus of the Year ' by Nottingham Trent University - the former Trent Polytechnic - in 2011 . He also holds an MA in Defence Studies from King ' s College London .