Air Vice-Marshal Rob Wright
Chief of Staff to the Air Member for Personnel &
Deputy CinC Personnel & Training Command
Air Vice-Marshal Rob Wright was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1966 and, after passing through the training programmes of Syerston/Valley/Chivenor, joined 208‘s partner squadron in Bahrain, 8 Squadron. As the two Hunter Squadrons were disbanded with Britain's withdrawal from the Gulf, Rob converted to the Phantom FGR2 and joined 17 Squadron at Bruggen, in Germany. At the end of that tour, he joined the newly formed Tactical Weapons Unit at Brawdy, flying Hunters again. Promotion to Squadron Leader in 1976 brought with it a tour with the US Navy as an F4J weapons instructor, then came a flight commander's slot with 208 Squadron in 1979. From then until 1982, Squadron Leader Wright flew Buccaneers in the period when the Squadron was operating in the overland strike/attack role, with assignments to both the Central Region and AFNORTH. After graduating from the RAF Staff College in 1982, Rob went to the MoD's Operational Requirements Division before returning to the Staff College in 1984, in the rank of Wing Commander as a member of the Directing Staff. A return to flying duties came in 1987, together with command of IX Squadron, operating the Tornado GR1. Appointment to the task of Personal Staff Officer to the Chief of the Air Staff and promotion to Group Captain came next, in December 1989, and that was followed by a return to RAF Bruggen as Station Commander in 1992, after flying refresher training and a German language course. In October 1994, newly promoted, Air Commodore Wright became Assistant Chief of Staff, Policy and Requirements at the newly formed NATO Headquarters at High Wycombe. Six months later, he was appointed Air Commodore Operations at HQSTC, setting up and commanding the UK Combined Air Operations Centre and becoming Deputy Director of the newly formed Franco British European Air Group. Promotion to Air Vice-Marshal in June 1997 came with the appointment as Military Adviser to the High Representative in Sarajevo, who oversaw the setting up of the new state of Bosnia Herzogovina under the Dayton Agreement. Air Vice-Marshal Wright negotiated the formation of the Civil Aviation Department in Bosnia Herzogovina and formed the Standing Defence Committee, linking the three factions at presidential and ministerial levels. His current appointment, as Chief of Staff to the Air Member for Personnel and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Personnel and Training Command, based at Innsworth, came in February 1998. Air Vice-Marshal Wright was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1982 and became a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1997. His wife, Maggie, is an ex-WRAF Secretarial Officer and they have two children, Christopher and Kate. Christopher is a business analyst and Kate is currently studying politics and history at Royal Holloway University. The Wright family enjoys golf, tennis and skiing and the family home is in Cheltenham.
