Air Marshal John Paul Harvey (born 4 September 1954) was a senior officer in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) until his retirement at the end of 2011. He held the position of

Chief Capability Development Group The Chief of Capability Development Group (CCDG) was head of the Capability Development Group (CDG) in the Australian Department of Defence, part of the Australian Defence Organisation. This position was created in December 2003 and disbanded t ...

from October 2010 until December 2011.

Military career

Early career

Harvey joined the RAAF as a navigator in 1977. After completing navigator training at

RAAF Base East Sale RAAF Base East Sale is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base and training school, located in , Victoria, Australia. The base is one of the main training establishments of the RAAF, including where Australian Air Force Cadets fr ...

he was posted to Canberra bomber aircraft at

RAAF Base Amberley RAAF Base Amberley is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located southwest of Ipswich, Queensland in Australia and southwest of Brisbane CBD. It is currently home to No. 1 Squadron (operating the F/A-18F Super Hornet), N ...

. After four years flying Canberra aircraft, Harvey was appointed as the

Minister for 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 ...

's escort officer. Harvey converted to the

F-111 The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included ground attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons ca ...

and completed a three-year flying tour on F-111. Following this he was appointed to the Joint Intelligence Organisation in Technical Intelligence where he served for three years. Harvey was then posted to 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 ...

as the Flight Test Director for the F-111 Avionics Update Project. Harvey spent a year on exchange with the

New Zealand Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence ( mi, Manatū Kaupapa Waonga) is the public service department of New Zealand responsible for advising the government on strategic defence policy, acquiring military equipment to meet defence capability and conducting au ...

before taking up a Visiting Fellow position with the

Strategic and Defence Studies Centre The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC) is a university-based institute that is situated in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. It is Australia's oldest-established centre for the study of ...

at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

. After leaving the Australian National University Harvey was appointed the Defence Attaché to Southern Europe.

Senior command

Harvey was promoted to air commodore and posted as Director General Aerospace Development and on 2 September 2002 he was appointed Director General Air Combat Capability. In November 2006, Harvey 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 Program Manager New Air Combat Capability within the

Defence Materiel Organisation The Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) is an organisation within the Department of Defence (Australia), Australian Department of Defence, responsible for Military acquisition, acquisition and Military supply chain management, su ...

. In the 2008

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

Honours, Harvey was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for "exceptional service to the Australian Defence Force and Royal Australian Air Force as the Program Manager, New Air Combat Capability".Member of the Order of Australia
26 January 2008, It's an Honour In October 2010, following the resignation of Vice Admiral

Matt Tripovich Vice Admiral Matthew John Tripovich, (born 4 January 1956) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy. He served as Chief Capability Development Group from 2007 until his retirement in October 2010. Early life Matthew John Tripov ...

, Harvey was promoted to the rank of air marshal and appointed as

Retirement

At the beginning of December 2011, Harvey's position as Chief of the Capability Development Group was made answerable to a new civilian appointee. Harvey objected to the new arrangement, and subsequently tended his resignation from the RAAF; according to the ''Canberra Times'', he "is not going to another position in Defence".

Personal life

Harvey has degrees in architecture from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

as well as psychology and information science.

Honours and awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, John 1954 births Australian aviators Chiefs of Capability Development Group (Australia) Living people Members of the Order of Australia People from Sydney Royal Australian Air Force air marshals Military personnel from New South Wales University of New South Wales alumni