Air Commodore Gordon Moulds,

CBE 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 o ...

DL is a retired Senior

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Officer who held various commands including most recently Commander of

Kandahar Airfield Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, also referred to as Kandahar International Airport ( ps, د کندهار نړيوال هوايي ډګر) and by some military officials as Kandahar Airfield, KAF) , is located about south-east of the city Ka ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Military career

Air Commodore Gordon Moulds joined the

in 1978 and trained as an Air Electronic Operator on

Nimrod Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...

aircraft in the Maritime role. He served his first operational tour at

RAF Kinloss Royal Air Force Kinloss or RAF Kinloss is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near the village of Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north east of Scotland. The RAF station opened on 1 April 1939 and served as a training establishme ...

as a sergeant where he participated in a number of operations, most notably flying from

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

in support of the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

’ campaign. In 1983, he undertook navigator training and was posted to

No. 111 Squadron RAF ("Standing by") , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries= , decorations= , battle_honours= Palestine 1917–1918*, Megiddo, Home Defence 1940–1942*, France and Low Countries 1940, ...

RAF Leuchars Royal Air Force Leuchars or RAF Leuchars was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the station was home to fighter aircraft which policed northern UK airspac ...

, to operate the Air Defence

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

fighter aircraft. During this period he conducted numerous Quick Reaction Alert sorties (policing the United Kingdom airspace) where he and his pilot intercepted over 30 Russian aircraft. In 1988 he became an air defence fast-jet instructor and was posted on to No 228 OCU, the Phantom Operational Conversion Unit; during this tour he was awarded the

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

. Throughout his time on Phantom aircraft he completed 7 detachments to the Falkland Islands. On promotion to

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

he became the aircraft accident Board of Inquiry advisor for Headquarters 11 Group at

RAF Bentley Priory RAF Bentley Priory was a non-flying Royal Air Force station near Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow. It was the headquarters of Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain and throughout the Second World War. During the war, two enemy bomb ...

. In 1993, he converted on to the

Tornado F3 The Panavia Tornado Air Defence Variant (ADV) was a long-range, twin-engine interceptor version of the swing-wing Panavia Tornado. The aircraft's first flight was on 27 October 1979, and it entered service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 198 ...

fighter aircraft and became the Executive Officer of the Tornado F3 Operational Training Unit. On promotion to

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

, he became the Deputy Combined Force Air Component Commander in Turkey, policing the

Iraqi no-fly zones The Iraqi no-fly zones conflict was a low-level conflict in the two no-fly zones (NFZs) in Iraq that were proclaimed by the United States, United Kingdom, and France after the Gulf War of 1991. The United States stated that the NFZs were intende ...

. A short tour followed 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 ...

as the desk officer responsible for advising ministers on air matters relating to the Middle East. In 1998 he became Officer Commanding Operations Wing at

. Another short tour followed in the Ministry of Defence, this time as the Personal Staff Officer to the

Assistant Chief of the Air Staff The Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (ACAS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force. The current ACAS is Air Vice-Marshal Simon Edwards. The post was originally established circa February 1938, but without being made a member of the Air ...

. On promotion to

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 ...

, he was posted to Headquarters 1 Group, Strike Command, as Group Captain Tornado where he was responsible for all operational, training and second customer issues for the Tornado F3, Tornado GR4 and Hawk aircraft.

Commandant Air Cadets

In June 2004, he assumed the post of Chief of Staff/Air Commander in the Falkland Islands. During that tour, his only interest was promotion. Returning to the UK to take up the post of

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 The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth orga ...

on promotion to Air Commodore on 13 October 2006, replacing Air Commodore David Harrison. Whilst Commandant Air Cadets, he visited many units and Squadrons, and was extremely impressed with the efforts being made by the volunteer staff and the subsequent results for the cadets of those Squadrons, in particular those units that have been able to provide sustained levels of high achievement across the broad range of activities that the ACO provides. Air Commodore Moulds instigated a number of wide-ranging initiatives in the Air Cadet Organisation and introduced a Strategic Plan for the next ten years. Amongst these initiatives were:- The development of Regional Activity Centres providing weekend activities with advanced technology flight simulators and equipment alongside air experience flying or gliding; The introduction of a "Cadet CV" to collate the records of activities of individual cadets and provide evidence to future employers; An updating of the syllabus to relate to 21st century teenagers and bringing in web based training packages; The continued roll out of Project BADER named after

Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...

bringing a Corps wide IT system of communication, information and training. Air Commodore Moulds handed over command of the ACO to Air Commodore Ian Stewart in May 2008.

Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands

Air Commodore Moulds became

Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands The Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory and, as such, rely on the United Kingdom for the guarantee of their security. The other UK territories in the South Atlantic, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, fall under the pro ...

on 14 June 2008. He 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 o ...

(CBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours. He was replaced by

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

Phillip Thicknesse in December 2009.

Commander Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan

It was announced in March 2010 that Air Commodore Moulds was to become Commander Kandahar Airfield taking up the post in May 2010. He handed over command to Brigadier General Jeffrey Kendall of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

in November 2010.

Roles after military career

Upon retirement from the RAF Gordon Moulds become the chief executive officer of Kids Out and is a key note on cyber security for LogRhythm.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/gordonmoulds

Published works

* ''The Lightning Conversion Units 1960 – 1987''

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moulds, Gordon Royal Air Force Air Cadets Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Bedfordshire Royal Air Force officers People educated at Madras College Year of birth missing (living people)