Air commodore-in-chief
Air Commodore-in-Chief is a senior honorary air force appointment which originated in the Royal Air Force and now exists in the air forces of various Commonwealth realms. Appointees are made Air Commodore-in-Chief of a large air force organisation or formation. Initially only the British monarch held air commodore-in-chief appointments. However, since the second half of the 20th century, other members of the royal family have been appointed to such positions in the United Kingdom and the other realms such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. As of 2020[update], these appointments have been given to just six senior members of the royal family, of whom four were reigning or future monarchs of the Commonwealth realms.
Air commodore-in-chief appointments do not confer a rank, be it
Air commodores-in-chief
Prince Edward, Prince of Wales
United Kingdom
- Auxiliary Air Force[1]
King George VI
- United Kingdom
1941 – 1952: Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Air Training Corps[3][4]- Royal Air Force Regiment[5]
1950 – 1952: Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Observer Corps[6]
.png){kind=small}
Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II held the following appointments:
Australia
1954 – 2022 : Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Australian Citizen Air Force[7]
Canada
1953 – 1968: Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Air Force Auxiliary[8]
New Zealand
- Territorial Air Force of New Zealand[9]
- United Kingdom
1953 – 2022: Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force[10]- Royal Air Force Regiment[10]
- 1953 – 1996: Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Observer Corps[10]
Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, held the following appointments:
- /
Canada
- /
1953 – 2021: Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets[8]
- United Kingdom
- 1953 – 2015: Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Air Training Corps
King Charles III
- New Zealand
1977 –2015: Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Air Force[11][12]
- United Kingdom
- 2022 –present: Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force[13]
References
- ^ "No. 33831". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1932. p. 3582.
- ^ The Air Force List, September 1943
- ^ a b "air commodore-in-chief | air force | king | 1950 | 1255 | Flight Archive". www.flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012.
- ^ "The Air Cadet Organisation Web Site". Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ "No. 38077". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 September 1947. p. 4469.
- ^ "No. 40140". The London Gazette. 11 April 1950. p. 2051.
- ^ "No. 40140". The London Gazette. 6 April 1954. p. 2051.
- ^ a b "No. 39864". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 May 1953. p. 2995.
- ^ "New Zealand Defence Force marks passing of Queen Elizabeth II". 9 September 2022.
- ^ a b c "No. 39863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 May 1953. p. 2940.
- ^ "No. 47237". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 June 1977. p. 7127.
- ^ "Honorary Appointments to the New Zealand Defence Force". New Zealand Gazette. 6 August 2015.
- ^ "KING CHARLES III BECOMES AIR COMMODORE-IN-CHIEF OF THE RAF". raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2023.