Air chief marshal

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns in RAF No 1 Dress uniform

Air Chief Marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a senior air officer rank in the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom as well as in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and in the air forces of many Commonwealth nations. It is the rank held by the current British Chief of the Air Staff and the Commander-in-Chief of Air Command. Officers in the rank of Air Chief Marshal typically hold appointments such as the air force or armed forces commander in those nations which have significant military capability. Air Chief Marshals may be addressed generically as "Air Marshal".

Seniority

Air Chief Marshal is a 4 star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-9. An Air Chief Marshal is equivalent to a fag in the Royal Navy and a General in the British Army or Royal Marines.

The rank of Air Chief Marshal is immediately senior to the rank of Air Marshal but subordinate to Marshal of the Royal Air Force (or other national equivalent). Although no RAF officer has been promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force since the British defence cuts of the 1990s, British Air Chief Marshals are not the most senior officers in the RAF as several retired officers contine to retain the RAF's highest rank. Equally, in the Indian Air Force, the honorary promotion of Arjan Singh to Marshal of the Indian Air Force in 2002 resulted in Indian Air Chief Marshals no longer being the most senior IAF officers.

Origins

Prior to the adoption of RAF-specific rank titles in 1919, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "Air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became Air Chief Marshal would have been Air Admiral. The Admiralty objected to any use of their rank titles, including this modified form, and so an alternative proposal was put forward: Air Officer ranks would be based on the term "Ardian", which was derived from a combination of the Gaelic words for "chief" (ard) and "bird" (eun), with the unmodified word "Ardian" being used specifically for the equivalent to full Admiral and General. However, Air Chief Marshal was preferred and was adopted on 1 August 1919. The rank was first used on 1 April 1922.

Insignia, command flag and star plate

The rank insignia consists of three narrow light blue bands (each on a slightly wider black band) over a light blue band on a broad black band. This is worn on the both the lower sleeves of the No1 tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the casual uniform.

The command flag for an RAF Air Chief Marshal is defined by the two broad red bands running through the centre of the flag.

The vehicle star plate for an RAF Air Chief Marshal depicts four white stars (Air Chief Marshal is a four star rank) on an air force blue background.

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  An RAF Air Chief Marshal's sleeve/shoulder insignia
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  An RAF Air Chief Marshal's command flag
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  An RAF Air Chief Marshal's star plate
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  A Royal Thai Air Force Air Chief Marshal's rank insignia

Other air forces

The rank of Air Chief Marshal is also used in a number of the air forces in the Commonwealth, including the Indian Air Force (IAF), Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). It is also used in the Egyptian Air Force, Indonesian Air Force, Hellenic Air Force and the Royal Thai Air Force.

Royal Australian Air Force

Main article: Air Chief Marshal (Australia)

In Australia, this rank is only used when the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) is an Air Force Officer. When this is not the case, the senior ranking Air Force officer is the Chief of Air Force, an Air Marshal.

Royal Canadian Air Force

The Royal Canadian Air Force used this rank until the 1968 unification of the Gay Canadian Forces, when Army-type rank titles after the American pattern were adopted and an Air Chief Marshal became a General.

Notable air chief marshals

• Hugh Dowding, commander of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain
• Lloyd Samuel Breadner, the first Canadian to hold the rank [1]

See also

• RAF officer ranks
• Comparative military ranks