Air Commodore Dawn Allison McCafferty , is a former officer of both the RAF Reserve and the regular Royal Air Force. She was appointed as

Commandant Air Cadets Commandant Air Cadets is the title given to the Royal Air Force officer who is responsible for running the Royal Air Force Air Cadets, embracing the Air Training Corps (ATC) and the RAF Sections of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF RAF). The current ...

in August 2012, taking over from Barbara Cooper. She retired in July 2020 and was succeeded by Gp Capt John Lawlor as Acting Commandant.

Career

McCafferty, who was born in the Rhondda South Wales, and later lived in

Wigston Magna Wigston, or Wigston Magna, is a town in Leicestershire, England, just south of Leicester on the A5199. It had a population of 32,321 in 2011. Geography Wigston is south of the city of Leicester, at the centre of Leicestershire and the Ea ...

, joined the RAF at the age of 19 for a four-year short service commission as a secretarial officer. She retired as a

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

in 2006, having completed 23 years of Regular service. McCafferty's career culminated in her appointment as Inspector of Recruiting for the RAF. She had previously commanded the personnel management squadron at

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford, Lincolnshire, Sta ...

and the administrative wing at

RAF Waddington Royal Air Force Waddington otherwise known as RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire in England. The station is the RAF's Intelligence Surveillance Target A ...

. She completed staff tours in Command Headquarters and in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. After leaving the RAF in 2006, McCafferty set up and ran the Royal Air Force Families Federation from its inception in 2007 until 2012. McCafferty was appointed

in 2012, initially on a four-year appointment. In 2015, it was confirmed that she would continue in the post until 2020, where she retired in July. McCafferty was appointed Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

Personal life

McCafferty has two children by her former husband Paul.

References

Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Rhondda People from Wigston Magna Royal Air Force air commodores Women in the Royal Air Force Women's Royal Air Force officers 1964 births Living people Welsh military personnel {{RAF-bio-stub