Air Vice Marshal Michael John Harwood, (born 29 October 1958) 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) an ...

officer who served as Defence Attaché and Head of the British Defence Staff – US in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from 2008 to 2011.

RAF career

Educated at Merchant Taylors' School and at King's College London (MA Defence Studies), Harwood joined the RAF as a fast-jet pilot in 1978, initially serving as a flying instructor on Hawk and Harrier GR3/T4 aircraft. He received the

Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air The Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, formerly the King's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, was a merit award for flying service awarded by the United Kingdom between 1942 and 1994. It was replaced by the Queen’ ...

in December 1990. Promoted 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 Commanding Officer of No. 20 Squadron (Harrier Operational Conversion Unit) at RAF Wittering in 1998 and, following promotion to group captain, he became Commander British Forces (Gulf) in Saudi Arabia in 2000. He went on to be Station Commander,

RAF Cottesmore Royal Air Force Station Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. On 15 December 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that the ...

in 2001 before being deployed as Operating Base Commander, Kuwait for Operation Telic in 2003. He joined the Public Relations Directorate at the Ministry of Defence in 2004, became Assistant Commandant (Air) at the

Joint Services Command and Staff College Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) is a British military academic establishment providing training and education to experienced officers of the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force, Ministry of Defence Civil Service, and serving offic ...

in 2005 and was the appointed Chief of the ISAF Detachment,

CENTAF The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

Combined Air Operations Centre at Al Udeid with the rank of air commodore in September 2007. Harwood became Air Officer Commanding No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group, Al Udeid in 2008. He was promoted air vice marshal and appointed Head of the British Defence Staff – US and Defence

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

in November 2008. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the

2012 New Year Honours 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Harwood, Michael 1958 births Living people People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Alumni of King's College London Royal Air Force air marshals British air attachés Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Companions of the Order of the Bath