AM (Ret'd) Sir Christopher Harper

Former DG, NATO International Military Staff Royal Air Force

Air Marshal Sir Chris Harper joined the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot in 1976. He flew numerous aircraft including the Jaguar, the CF-18 and, more recently, the Eurofighter Typhoon. He was involved in active operations over Iraq and in the Balkans, and has commanded at all levels of the Royal Air Force including, from 2007 – 2009, as Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group.

Sir Chris also held important staff appointments in the UK Ministry of Defence and at the RAF’s Air Command headquarters. His last 7 years in the Royal Air Force saw him working in NATO. From 2009 to 2011, he was Deputy Commander of NATO’s Joint Force Command at Brunssum in the Netherlands; following that, he was the UK’s Military Representative to NATO and the EU in Brussels. Most recently, from 2013 to 16, he was the Director General of the NATO International Military Staff. From this high-level military-diplomatic position in NATO HQ in Brussels, he managed the Alliance’s political-military seam and was responsible for developing, negotiating and gaining consensus amongst NATO’s 28 allies for innumerable major NATO strategic policy decisions.

Sir Chris left the Royal Air Force in January 2017. Determined not to let his experience in the international defence and security domain go to waste, he started a small, independent consultancy company, CH4C Global Ltd. Sir Chris regularly speaks at key events such as the Munich and Berlin Security Conferences and Wilton Park. Sir Chris still holds a commission and is the Honorary Air Commodore of No 2620 ‘County of Norfolk’ Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. He is President of the Air League and a Trustee of the RAF Sport Aircraft Charity. He also serves on the Council of the Royal Aeronautical Society and is a Non-resident Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council.