caption serviceyears branch commands death_place death_date birth_place allegiance unit awards battles birth_date rank image article_title name
official raaf portrait of air marshal sir alister murdoch 1929 -- 69 royal australian air force no. 221 squadron raf -lrb- 1941 -- 42 -rrb- raaf college 1 -lrb- 1952 -- 53 -rrb- training command -lrb- 1953 -- aos 56 -rrb- operational command -lrb- 1962 -- 65 -rrb- chief -lrb- of the air staff -lrb- 1965 -- 69 -rrb- 1940 -- 41 -rrb- no. new south wales 29 november 1984 elsternwick , victoria australia north-western tactical air force -lrb- 1945 -rrb- area command -lrb- 1944 -- 45 -rrb- first knight companion of the order of the bath mentioned in despatches commander of the order of the british empire world war ii 9 december 1912 air marshal caf murdoch.jpg alister murdoch
 alister murray murdoch
alister murdoch

air marshal sir alister murray murdoch , kbe , cb -lrb- 9 december 1912 -- 29 november 1984 -rrb- was a senior commander in the royal australian air force -lrb- raaf -rrb- .
he served as chief of the air staff -lrb- cas -rrb- from 1965 to 1969 .
joining the air force in 1930 , murdoch trained as a seaplane pilot , and participated in an antarctic rescue mission for lost explorers in 1935 .
during world war ii , he commanded no. 221 squadron raf in europe and the middle east , and later occupied senior positions on the staff of raaf formations in the south west pacific .
his post-war appointments included commandant of raaf college from 1952 to 1953 , air officer commanding -lrb- aoc -rrb- training command from 1953 to 1955 , deputy chief of the air staff from 1958 to 1959 , and aoc operational command from 1962 to 1965 .
as aoc training command in 1954 , murdoch headed a program to determine aircraft purchases for the raaf ; his recommendations included the c-130 hercules transport , considered one of the most important acquisitions in the air force 's history .
his term as cas coincided with increased commitment to the vietnam war , and he came into conflict with australian army commanders over the employment of helicopters in battle .
he was also involved in assessing the readiness of the general dynamics f-111c for raaf service .
appointed a companion of the order of the bath in 1960 and knight commander of the order of the british empire in 1966 , murdoch was the fourth in a series of cass who had been cadets at the royal military college , duntroon .
he retired from the air force in december 1969 , and died in 1984 .
