Allegiance United Kingdom Name Gary Waterfall | Service/branch Royal Air Force Rank Air vice-marshal | |
Born 7 January 1967 (age 57) ( 1967-01-07 ) Commands held No. 1 Group (2014–)
No. 41 Squadron RAF (2006–07) Awards Order of the British Empire | ||
Air Vice Marshal Gary Martin Waterfall, (born 7 January 1967) is a senior Royal Air Force officer and Chief of Staff (Operations) in the Permanent Joint Headquarters. From July 2014 to April 2016, he was Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group.
RAF career
Waterfall was previously a Harrier pilot and a member of the Red Arrows display team. He was Officer Commanding No. 41 Squadron RAF from 1 April 2006 to 8 June 2007.
On 15 December 2010, Waterfall led the final 16-ship flypast of the Harrier when they were retired from service. On promotion to air commodore in June 2011, he was deployed to NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre 5 to assume command of the UK air contribution to the liberation of Libya, and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Operational Honours List in March 2012.
From July 2014 to April 2016, he was Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group. In that role, he is also head of the air defence of the United Kingdom. On 28 April 2016, Waterfall handed over the command of No. 1 Group to Gerry Mayhew. Waterfall was then appointed the Chief of Staff (Operations) in the Permanent Joint Headquarters with effect from 16 May 2016.