Richard Knighton

Richard Knighton
Born	1969 (age 46–47)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1988 - present
Rank	Air Vice-Marshal
Commands held	RAF Wittering
Battles/wars	Kosovo War

Air Vice-Marshal Richard J. Knighton (born 1969) is a senior Royal Air Force officer and engineer. Since January 2015, he has served as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff.

Early life

Knighton was educated at Hatton Secondary School. As a University Cadet sponsored by the Royal Air force, he studied engineering at Clare College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1991 with a first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; as per tradition, this was later promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree.^[1]

Military career

Knighton joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1988. In his early career, he served as an engineer officer and worked on Nimrod and Tornado F3 aircraft.^[1] He saw active service in the Kosovo War. In 2006, he was appointed military assistant to the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Equipment Capability). He then served as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff Strategy and Plans at Air Command in 2007. From 2009 to 2011, he served as Station Commander of RAF Wittering in 2009.^[1]

In May 2011, Knighton was appointed Director of Air Plans at the Ministry of Defence.^[2] Since January 2015, he has served as the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff.^[3] As such, he is a member of the Air Force Board and also sits on the board of the Civil Aviation Authority as a non-executive member.^[1][4]

References

1. "Assistant Chief of Air Staff (ACAS)". Senior Commanders. Royal Air Force. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
2. "Royal Air Force Senior Appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 22 April 2015.
3. "AIR RANK AND COMMAND APPOINTMENTS LIST 11.14". Senior Appointments. Royal Air Force. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
4. "Air Vice-Marshal Richard Knighton". CAA board and staff. Civil Aviation Authority. Retrieved 12 February 2016.