Jock Stirrup

Sir Graham Eric Stirrup
4 December 1949 (1949-12-04) (age 60)
Sir Jock Stirrup at the Ministry of Defence
Nickname	Jock
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1970–
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Commands held	No. 2 Squadron RAF Marham No. 1 Group Chief of the Air Staff Chief of the Defence Staff
Battles/wars	Dhofar War Operation Veritas Operation Telic Operation Herrick
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Air Force Cross

Air Chief Marshal Sir Graham Eric Stirrup GCB, AFC, FRAeS, RAF (born 4 December 1949), commonly known as Sir Jock Stirrup, was a fast jet pilot, and is now a senior Royal Air Force commander. He was the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 2003 to 2006, and currently is the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) of Her Majesty's Armed Forces.

RAF career

Stirrup was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and the RAF College Cranwell, where he received his commission in 1970. In the early 1970s, while on loan service with the Sultan of Oman’s Air Force, Stirrup flew BAC Strikemasters in the Dhofar War. After he returned to Great Britain in 1975, Stirrup was posted to No. 41 Squadron where he flew the F-4 Phantom. Stirrup went on to serve in an exchange tour in the United States where he continued to fly Phantoms.

In March 1983, Stirrup, by then a Squadron Leader, was serving as a Flight Commander on No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit which was based at RAF Lossiemouth. His duties centred around the instruction of trainee pilots on the SEPECAT Jaguar. On 7 March 1983, Stirrup was carrying out a student progress check from the rear seat of his aircraft when they suffered a serious bird strike. Stirrup was unable to ascertain whether his student was conscious and forward vision through the canopy was obscured. One of his engines caught fire, and although ejecting from the aircraft would have been justified, not knowing whether the student was conscious or not, Stirrup managed to land at RAF Leuchars. Stirrup was later awarded the Air Force Cross for his actions.^[1]

From 1990 to 1992, Stirrup served as Station Commander of RAF Marham^[2] and during his time in command, RAF Marham's strike aircraft were dispatched to the Middle East, seeing action in the Gulf War air campaign.^[3] In 1993 Stirrup attended the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) and his course colleagues included Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman, who would later serve as his deputy (Granville-Chapman was Vice Chief of the Defence Staff from 2005 to 2009). After completing the course, Stirrup was appointed Director of Air Force Plans and Programmes in 1994. He was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group in 1997, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in 1998 and Deputy Commander-in-Chief RAF Strike Command in 2000.

From September 2001 to January 2002, Stirrup was UK National Contingent Commander for Operation Veritas (operations against the Taliban) in Afghanistan.

Stirrup was promoted to Air Chief Marshal^[4] and appointed Chief of the Air Staff on 1 August 2003. He remained as the professional head of the RAF until 13 April 2006 and was appointed CDS on 28 April 2006, making him the first RAF officer to hold Britain's senior military post since 1994.

Stirrup is married and has one son.

Chief of the Defence Staff

During Stirrup's time as Chief of the Defence staff, the British Armed Forces saw significant involvement in both Iraq (Operation Telic) and Afghanistan (Operation Herrick). In late April 2009, most British military operations in Iraq came to an end; however British military personnel do still remain in Iraq.

In June 2007, whilst speaking at Chatham House, Stirrup commented that Western militaries must be prepared to deal with the consequences of global warming^[5].

On operations in Afghanistan, Stirrup has noted that whilst "the military is a key, an essential element in dealing with those problems, but by and large these problems can only be resolved politically" and that he favoured a pragmatic approach to dealing with former members of the Taliban.^[6]

Following Prince Harry's early return from Afghanistan, Stirrup stated that the Prince might only be deployed in future if the risks involved "would be no higher than they would normally be in such circumstances".^[7].

In June 2008, Stirrup made clear his view that the British Armed Forces were overstretched. Stirrup stated that the Armed Forces did not have the structure or resources to continue fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan, unless the British involvement in one of the conflicts was reduced to a small scale.^[8]

Also in mid 2008, the Government extended Stirrup's term of office to 2011 which effectively prevented the then Chief of the General Staff, Sir Richard Dannatt, from being appointed to the UK's senior military position. If Stirrup serves until 2011 he will have been the longest serving CDS since Mountbatten in the 1960s.^[9] He will also have spent the longest time in the rank of air chief marshal of all but a handful of RAF officers.

In September 2009, Stirrup made a visit to Israel, seeing the Israel Defense Forces's Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and other senior commanders. During the visit, Anglo-Israeli military co-operation, the British operations in Afghanistan and the situation in the Middle East were discussed. Stirrup also visited the Palestinian Authority.^[10]

Honours and memberships

Stirrup has received the following honours:

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath^[11]
• Air Aide de Camp to Her Majesty The Queen^[4]
• Honorary Colonel 73 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers)^[12]
• Doctor of Science^[13]

Stirrup is associated with the following organizations:

• Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society^[14]
• Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute^[15]
• Member of the Society of Knights of the Round Table.^[16]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jock Stirrup

• Defense News - Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup
• Ministry of Defence - Chief of the Defence Staff
• Debrett's - Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup
• Clip from The Daily Show

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