Group Captain Andy Baron

Commandant No 1 Flying Training School and Commandant Defence College of Air and Space Operations Royal Air Force

Born and educated in N Ireland and then Scotland for the final two years of his university degree, Bar-on joined the RAF in 1998. As a junior officer he flew Puma and Chinook helicopters, seeing operational service in N Ireland, Bos-nia, Iraq and Afghanistan, and becoming a Qualified Helicopter Tactics instructor, Training Captain and Survival Instructor along the way. As a squadron leader, he again flew the Puma, conducting operations in Iraq and exercising globally. On the staff, he held roles in PJHQ J3, as a deputy Air Commander in Afghanistan and on the Joint Force Air Component for the London 2012 Olympic Games. At wing commander he completed the UK’s Advanced Command and Staff Course, commanded two Front-Line helicopter squadrons and Aviation Task Force 3, and saw operational service on Op TORAL (Afghanistan) and Op RUMAN (Disaster Relief). On the staff, he completed HQ appointments in the JHC, Air Command A3/5 and in the US Combined Air Ops Centre in the Middle East. At Group Captain, he was the UK’s Deputy Air Component Commander in the Middle East, notably dur-ing Op PITTING (Afghanistan evacuation), and on the staff he was the Military Assistant Head within Defence’s Strategic Hub in the Ministry of Defence. He took over as Station Commander of RAF Shaw-bury on 2 December 2022. Outside of his primary role, he is a ‘Women in Defence’ and RAF ‘MentorMe’ mentor, a Diversity Ally and his hobbies include trying to keep active and fit, and DIY.