Paul Godfrey | |
|---|---|
 Official 2022 portrait | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1991 – |
| Rank | Air Vice-Marshal |
| Commands held | United Kingdom Space Command |
| Battles/wars | War in Afghanistan |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Air Vice-Marshal Paul Alexander Godfrey, OBE is a senior Royal Air Force officer, who served as the first commander of the United Kingdom Space Command. [1]
Godfrey grew up in RAF Kenley, south of London. He was educated at Trinity School of John Whitgift, then an all-boys private school in the London Borough of Croydon. While at school, he was a member of the Combined Cadet Force, and gained his private pilot licence at 17. [2]
Godfrey was commissioned into the Royal Air Force on 9 May 1991. [3] He served as a Harrier jump jet pilot. [4] In 2006, while holding the rank of squadron leader, he was awarded the Air Medal by the president of the United States "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq". [5] He became station commander at RAF Lossiemouth in November 2015. [6]
In February 2021, it was announced that he would become the first Commander, United Kingdom Space Command. [1] He took up the post on 8 March 2021 and was promoted to the rank of air vice-marshal. [7] In June 2024, he will take up the post of Director Capability at Strategic Command. [8]
Godfrey was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours. [9]
Marshal of the Royal Air Force William Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside, was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. After serving as a pilot, then a flight commander and finally as a squadron commander during the First World War, he served as a flying instructor during the inter-war years before becoming Director of Staff Duties and then Assistant Chief of the Air Staff at the Air Ministry.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force (MRAF) is the highest rank in the Royal Air Force (RAF). In peacetime it was granted to RAF officers in the appointment of Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), and to retired Chiefs of the Air Staff (CAS), who were promoted to it on their last day of service. While surviving Marshals of the RAF retain the rank for life, the highest rank to which officers on active service are promoted is now air chief marshal. Although general promotions to Marshal of the Royal Air Force have been discontinued since the British defence cuts of the 1990s, further promotions to the rank may still be made in wartime, for members of the Royal Family and certain very senior RAF air officers in peacetime at the discretion of the monarch; all such promotions in peacetime are only honorary, however. In 2012, the then Prince of Wales was promoted to the rank in recognition of his support for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in her capacity as head of the armed forces (commander-in-chief), while in 2014 Lord Stirrup, who had served as Chief of the Air Staff and Chief of the Defence Staff for over seven years, was also promoted.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Arthur William Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder, was a Scottish senior Royal Air Force commander. He was a pilot and squadron commander in the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and he went on to serve as a senior officer in the Royal Air Force during the inter-war years when he served in Turkey, Great Britain and the Far East.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Robin Harding, was a Royal Air Force officer who served as a bomber pilot in the 1950s, a helicopter squadron commander in the 1960s and a station commander in the 1970s. He became Chief of the Air Staff in 1988 and served in that role during the Gulf War in 1991. He became Chief of the Defence Staff in December 1992 but resigned after his affair with Lady (Bienvenida) Buck, the wife of Conservative MP Antony Buck, became public.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael James Beetham, was a Second World War bomber pilot and a high-ranking commander in the Royal Air Force from the 1960s to the 1980s. As Chief of the Air Staff during the Falklands War, he was involved in the decision to send the Task Force to the South Atlantic. At the time of his death, Beetham was one of only six people holding his service's most senior rank and, excluding Prince Philip's honorary rank, he had the longest time in that rank, making him the senior Marshal of the Royal Air Force.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Grandy, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He was the only officer who fought and commanded a squadron during the Battle of Britain to reach the post of Chief of the Air Staff. In the latter role he implemented the final stages of the RAF's withdrawal from the Persian Gulf and the Far East, oversaw the ordering and subsequent cancellation of the F-111 strike aircraft and handed over Britain's nuclear deterrent role to the Royal Navy.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Hugh Moran, was a fast jet pilot and later a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. He was Commander-in-Chief of Air Command at the time of his unexpected death.
Air Marshal David Walker, was a senior Royal Air Force officer. He was the Deputy Commander, Allied Joint Force Command at Brunssum in the Netherlands from 2011 to 2013, having previously served for over three years as Deputy Commander, Allied Air Component Command at Ramstein in Germany. Prior to that appointment he was Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group in the United Kingdom.
Air Marshal Sir Stuart David Atha,, is a former senior officer of the Royal Air Force. He led No. 3 (Fighter) Squadron from 2000 to 2004, which included deployment to Iraq on Operation Telic, commanded RAF Coningsby (2006–08), No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group (2009–10) and No. 1 Group (2011–14), and served as the Air Component Commander for security during the 2012 London Olympics. Atha was RAF Deputy Commander Operations from 2016 to 2019.
Air Marshal Sir Barry Mark North, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer, who served as Deputy Commander (Personnel) at RAF Air Command. A helicopter pilot, North has held command appointments at all levels, notably No. 78 Squadron in the Falkland Islands, 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.
Air Marshal Sir Timothy Michael Anderson, is a retired senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer. He served as the inaugural Director-General of the UK Military Aviation Authority (MAA) from 2010 to 2013. The MAA was established in response to the Haddon-Cave Review into the issues surrounding the loss of an RAF Nimrod over Afghanistan in September 2006. Earlier in his career, Anderson was a fast jet pilot, primarily flying the Tornado ground attack aircraft, and as Officer Commanding No. 14 Squadron led the United Kingdom's Tornado commitment to Operation Allied Force, the NATO air campaign over Kosovo in 1999, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He is currently Chairman of the UK Airspace Change Organising Group Steering Committee, overseeing a national infrastructure programme on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport and the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
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Harry George Smart, is best known for having been the commander of RAF Habbaniya during the first part of the Anglo-Iraqi War. Smart was an officer in the British Army, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force. He served during the First World War, during the interwar period, and during the Second World War.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen John Hillier, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer, who served as Chief of the Air Staff from 2016 to 2019. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in the Gulf in 1999 and was awarded the United States Bronze Star Medal for service in the Iraq War. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding No. 2 Group, Director Information Superiority at the Ministry of Defence, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Capability) and finally Chief of the Air Staff from July 2016. He was appointed chair of the Civil Aviation Authority in 2020.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard John Knighton, is a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer and professional engineer, currently serving as Chief of the Air Staff, the professional head of the RAF, since 2 June 2023. He previously served as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff from January 2015 to January 2017, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff at the Ministry of Defence, and as Deputy Commander Capability at RAF Air Command. Knighton is notable for being the first Chief of the Air Staff who is not a military pilot or indeed aircrew-qualified.
Air Vice-Marshal Peter James Murray Squires, is a senior Royal Air Force officer, who currently serves as the Commander of British Forces Cyprus. From August 2016 to October 2019 he served as Commandant of RAF College Cranwell. He was formerly a Harrier pilot and served as commander of No. 100 Squadron RAF, flying BAE Systems Hawks.
Air Vice-Marshal Philip Jeremy Robinson, is a decorated British pilot and senior Royal Air Force officer.
Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, is a senior Northern Irish Royal Air Force officer, who has been the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff since March 2024. Previously, he served as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group (2018–2020) and Air and Space Commander (2022–2024). Between February 2020 and August 2022, he took up the new post of Director Space, in the Ministry of Defence.
Air Vice-Marshal Ian W. Duguid, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer, whose final post was as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group RAF, headquartered at RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. Duguid was a Harrier pilot and Typhoon Force Commander before assuming the role of the Air Officer Commanding of No. 11 Group, which he served as from 2018 to November 2021.
United Kingdom Space Command (UKSC) is a joint command of the British Armed Forces organised under the Royal Air Force, and staffed by personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and the British Civil Service. The UKSC has three functions: space operations, space workforce generation, and space capability.
Air Vice-Marshal P A Godfrey OBE to be Director Capability in June 2024 in succession to Major General R J Anderton-Brown.