Air Chief Marshal

Air Chief Marshal

Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 Sir Anthony John Crowther "Tony" Bagnall, GBE, KCB, FRAeS (born 8 June 1945) is a retired senior Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 officer and former Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.

Flying career

Bagnall was commissioned into the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 in 1967. He became a weapons instructor on the Lightning

English Electric Lightning

The English Electric Lightning is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, noted for its great speed and unpainted natural metal exterior finish. It is the only all-British Mach 2 fighter aircraft. The aircraft was renowned for its capabilities as an interceptor; Royal Air Force ...

 aircraft later that year. Bagnall became Commanding Officer

Commanding officer

The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...

 of No. 43 Squadron

No. 43 Squadron RAF

No. 43 Squadron was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron originally formed in 1916 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. It last operated the Panavia Tornado F3 from RAF Leuchars, Scotland in the air defence role until disbanded in July 2009.-In World War I:...

 flying Phantoms and then No 23 Squadron

No. 23 Squadron RAF

No. 23 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Until October 2009, it operated the Boeing Sentry AEW1 Airborne Warning And Control System aircraft from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire.-First World War:...

 in the Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...

 in 1983 before becoming Director of Air Staff Briefing and Co-ordination in 1985 and then Station Commander of RAF Leuchars

RAF Leuchars

RAF Leuchars is the most northerly air defence station in the United Kingdom. It is located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, near to the university town of St Andrews.-Operations:...

 in Fife

Fife

Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...

 in 1988. Promoted to Air Commodore in 1990, he was made Director of Air Force Staff Duties at the Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

 in 1991. Promoted again, this time to Air Vice-Marshal, in 1992 he was appointed Assistant Chief of the Air Staff

Assistant Chief of the Air Staff

The Assistant Chief of the Air Staff is a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force. The incumbent is in practical terms the deputy to the head of the RAF, the Chief of the Air Staff....

 and then in 1994 went on to become Air Officer Commanding

Air Officer Commanding

Air Officer Commanding is a title given in the air forces of Commonwealth nations to an air officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, an air vice marshal might be the AOC 38 Group...

 No 11 Group

No. 11 Group RAF

No. 11 Group was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century, finally disbanding in 1996. Its most famous service was during 1940 when it defended London and the south-east against the attacks of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.-First World War:No. 11 Group was...

. This was followed by a tour starting in 1996 as Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe in the rank of Air Marshal.

In 1998 he became Air Member for Personnel

Air Member for Personnel

The Air Member for Personnel is the senior Royal Air Force officer who is responsible for personnel matters and is a member of the Air Force Board...

 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Personnel and Training Command

RAF Personnel and Training Command

Personnel and Training Command was one of two commands of the Royal Air Force that were merged to form Air Command on 1 April 2007.- Formation :...

 before being appointed Commander-in-Chief

Commander-in-Chief

A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...

 Strike Command

RAF Strike Command

The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007: it was merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air Command. It latterly consisted of two formations - No. 1...

 in 2000. He served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff from 2001 until his retirement in 2005.

In 2005 he became a member of the Court of the University of St Andrews

University of St Andrews

The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...

.