Air Commodore Jon Chitty, OBE

RAF 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 ...

, was

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...

(ATC) from 3 May 2002 until July 2005.

Biography

Air Commodore Jon Chitty was brought up and educated in Sheffield. He attended King Edward VII School
photo
and left with an RAF Scholarship to undertake an Aeronautical Engineering degree at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

from 1971 to 1974. He then undertook officer and specialist training at RAF College Cranwell during the following year. His first posting was to

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 Officer Commanding Armament Servicing Flight supporting the 3 Nimrod Squadrons. Postings to

RAF Gutersloh 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 ...

and

RAF Wattisham Royal Air Force Station Wattisham or more simply RAF Wattisham is a former Royal Air Force station located in East Anglia just outside the village of Wattisham, south of Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. During the Cold War it was a major front- ...

followed before he was posted to DSGT at Cranwell as an instructor. He left on promotion a year later to command the Armament Engineering Squadron at RAF Coningsby and was the project officer for the introduction to service of the Tornado F2. A range of tours at

RAF Stanley Port Stanley Airport is an airport in the Falkland Islands, outside the capital, Stanley, Falkland Islands, Stanley. The airport is the only civilian airport in the islands with a paved runway. However, RAF Mount Pleasant, located to the w ...

(

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 ...

), HQ Strike Command and

were followed by promotion to Wing Commander and a return to Strike Command to lead the Tornado Role Office in September 1989. His involvement in the fleet support and modification programmes for the Tornado squadrons involved in the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

led to his award of the OBE in the Gulf War Honours list. He then attended the Advanced Staff Course at Bracknell before his posting to

RAF Bruggen Royal Air Force Brüggen, more commonly known as RAF Brüggen, in Germany was a major station of the Royal Air Force until 15 June 2001. It was situated next to the village of Elmpt, approximately west of Düsseldorf on the Dutch-German bo ...

as Officer Commanding Engineering and Supply Wing. At the end of a busy 3 years in Germany, he was promoted to group captain and posted to the DD Weapons (RAF) appointment at

RAF Wyton Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group. History Flying station Wyton has be ...

. He served 4 years in post before moving to the

Ordnance Board The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence o ...

as the Air Strike Division Leader in December 1999. This tour as the UK specialist for the provision of independent safety and suitability for service advice for all air-launched and ground-based air defence munitions, also involved taking the UK-lead for Insensitive Munitions nationally and internationally. He left the newly formed Defence Ordnance Safety Group to take up the dual-appointment of Air Officer Commanding Air Cadets and Commandant of the

, at the

RAF College Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and ...

, on 3 May 2002. The appointments of Air Officer Commanding Air Cadets and Commandant ATC were split on 24 March 2003 with the former appointment passed to the Chief Executive of the Royal Air Force Training Group Defence Agency and the latter becoming

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 ...

. Jon is an Advanced Instructor in scuba diving and upon leaving the Royal Air Force at the end of this tour, he founded a scuba diving equipment design and manufacture company
Venture Diving
Venture Diving has designed and brought the innovativ
Tank2Go twinset trolley and carrier
to market. Jon also works as a consultant for a number of aerospace organisations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chitty, Jon Living people Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force Air Cadets People educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Year of birth missing (living people)