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David Walker joined the Royal Air Force in 1978,
completing tours in Germany, the United States, and the UK flying the Harrier
and F/A-18 Hornet. After Staff College he commanded No1(F) Squadron, flying
operational missions over Iraq and Bosnia, before becoming the Military
Assistant to the UK Minister for Armed Forces in the Ministry of Defence,
serving the Hon Nicholas Soames MP and Dr John Reid MP.
In January 1999, he attended the UK’s Higher Command
and Staff Course before taking command of Royal Air Force Cottesmore and the UK
Harrier Force. Posted to HQ Number 3 Group in August 2001 he spent most of that
tour deployed overseas supporting operations in Afghanistan as part of the
International Coalition for Op ENDURING FREEDOM.
In 2002 he took up the post of Assistant Chief of Staff
J3(Operations) responsible to the UK Commander Joint Operations for the
oversight and management of Operation TELIC, the UK contribution to Op IRAQI
FREEDOM, as well as oversight of all other UK expeditionary operations.
Appointed Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in October 2003, Walker was
responsible for the detailed handling of RAF policy, resource allocation,
international relations and change agenda. He was closely involved in the
Eurofighter /Typhoon programme and bi-lateral relations with NATO and
International allies. In April 2005 he took command of Number 1 Group with
responsibility for the RAF’s fast jet forces, their training and operational
performance. |
