Air Marshal Sir Gerard Michael David Mayhew, (born 15 February 1969) is a senior Royal Air Force officer, who served as

Deputy Commander Operations Deputy Commander Operations is the senior Royal Air Force officer responsible for the conduct of air operations at home and overseas. The current Deputy Commander Operations is Air Marshal Harvey Smyth who has been serving in the position since A ...

Headquarters Air Command Air Command is the only Command currently active in the Royal Air Force. It was formed by the merger of Royal Air Force Strike and Personnel and Training commands on 1 April 2007, and has its headquarters at RAF High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. ...

between May 2019 and August 2022.

Early life and education

Mayhew was born on 15 February 1969 in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

, Warwickshire, (now in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

), England. He was educated at St Benedict's Catholic High School, a voluntary aided

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

in Alcester, Warwickshire, and at

Alcester Grammar School Alcester Grammar School (AGS) is a co-educational 11-18 maintained selective grammar school, situated in Alcester, Warwickshire, England. On 1 April 2011, Alcester Grammar School became the first school in south Warwickshire to achieve academy ...

, a grammar school in Alcester.'MAYHEW, Air Vice-Marshal Gerard Michael David', '' Who's Who 2017'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 7 Nov 2017
/ref>

Military career

Mayhew was commissioned into the Royal Air Force on 28 July 1988 as an acting pilot officer. He served as an air traffic control officer from 1988 to 1990. In 1990, he trained as a pilot and became a

Qualified Weapons Instructor Qualified Weapons Instructor (QWI) (''queue-why'') is a qualification given to graduates of the Royal Air Force or Royal Navy Qualified Weapons Instructor courses. It is the equivalent to the United States Air Force Weapons School Course or US Na ...

(QWI). His early career as a pilot was spent flying the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

and Tornado, and he has more than 3000 flying hours. From 2007 to 2009, he served as Officer Commanding

No. 13 Squadron RAF Number 13 Squadron, also written as XIII Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which operate the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from RAF Waddington since reforming on 26 October 2012. The unit first formed as par ...

. In January 2013, Mayhew was appointed Air Officer Scotland and Officer Commanding

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 ...

. One of his main duties was to oversee the transfer of Leuchars, then an RAF station, to the British Army as a barracks; this was finalised in March 2015. He stepped down as Air Officer Scotland on 17 November 2014. From April 2015 to April 2016, he was a member of the Strategic Defence and Security Review Team in the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the

2015 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2015 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 p ...

. On 28 April 2016 was promoted to

air vice marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

and appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group. In August 2018, Mayhew succeeded Air Vice Marshal Michael Wigston as

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 ...

. In May 2019, he became Deputy Commander Operations,

and was promoted to air marshal. Mayhew was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayhew, Gerry British aviators Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Living people People educated at Alcester Grammar School Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of the Iraq War 1969 births Air traffic controllers Military personnel from Warwickshire