Jock stirrup

Jock Stirrup at a meeting of Regional Command South in Istanbul, February 4, 2010.

Graham Eric "Jock" Stirrup, Baron Stirrup KG , GCB , AFC , ADC (born December 4, 1949 ) is a Royal Air Force officer , former head of the British Defense Staff and non-partisan member of the House of Lords .

life and career

Jock Stirrup was born in 1949 as the only son to his parents William Hamilton Stirrup and Jaqueline Brenda Stirrup (née Coulson). He attended the Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood, Hertfordshire . After graduation, he entered the Royal Air Force (RAF) and attended RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire , where he received his officer license on July 31, 1970 . A year later, on July 31, 1971, he was appointed navigator - retrospectively to January 31 - , and another year later, on July 31, 1973, he was finally appointed lieutenant . From 1973 to 1975 Stirrup was in the service of the Oman Air Forceand was actively involved in the suppression of the Dhofar uprising . He flew a BAC Strikemaster and gained his first military experience with counterinsurgency. On his return to Great Britain in 1975 he was assigned to the 41st Squadron of the RAF and flew a SEPECAT Jaguar there . In the following years he served as part of an exchange program in the USA , where he flew the tactical all-weather reconnaissance aircraft F-4 Phantom II .

On January 1, 1980 he was promoted to squadron leader. From March 1983 he served as a flight controller in the 226th Operational Conversion Unit on the RAF base in Lossiemouth and trained young pilots at the SEPECAT Jaguar. On March 7, 1983, he suffered a serious accident during a training flight due to a bird strike . One of the engines caught fire and the view through the cockpit was severely restricted. Although an ejection seat exit would have been justified in this situation, Stirrup decided not to do so because he was not sure whether his trainee pilot in the front seat was conscious. He managed to land the machine safely on the RAF base in Leuchar . For this act he later received the Air Force Cross .

Stirrup was promoted to squad leader on July 1, 1984. In 1985 he was appointed commanding officer of the 2nd Squadron of the RAF stationed in Laarbruch , Germany. In 1987 he was promoted to Chief of Air Staff officer . On January 1, 1990, he was appointed squadron leader. Stirrup served as the head of the RAF base in Marham until 1992 . During this time, the unit stationed in Marham was moved to the Persian Gulf and took part in the Second Gulf War. In 1993 Stirrup attended the Royal College of Defense Studies . On January 1, 1994 he was promoted to Air Commodore and in the same year to Director of Air Force Plans and Programs . In April 1997 he was appointed Air Officer Commanding of the 1st Group of the RAF and a little later on July 1, 1997 promoted to Air Vice-Marshal . In August 1998 he was appointed Vice Chief of the Air Force ( Assistant Chief of the Air Staff ). On November 6, 2000, he was promoted to Air Marshal and at the same time Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the RAF Strike Command . With this appointment, he also became Commander of Combined Air Operations Center 9 of NATO and Director of the European Air Group .

From September 2001 to January 2002, Stirrup commanded the British contingent in Operation Veritas (British operations against the Taliban in the war in Afghanistan ). In this role he led the British contribution to the United States' Operation Enduring Freedom and was also the first advisor to US General Tommy R. Franks , the commander in chief of the United States Central Command .

In April 2002, Stirrup was appointed Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff , which he remained until May 2003. Its main task was to obtain the equipment necessary for the impending invasion of Iraq at a time when the government had not yet adequately informed the public. Although he repeatedly pointed out to various ministers that it was necessary to order the required equipment at an early stage, this was delayed so that not all soldiers were appropriately equipped at the start of the operation, for example boots and body armor were missing.

Jock Stirrup at a meeting at the UK Ministry of Defense, 26 October 2006.

Stirrup was promoted to Air Chief Marshal and was named Chief of the Air Staff on August 1, 2003 . In July 2004, Stirrup redesigned the RAF by closing many smaller bases in favor of a few large but well-equipped bases. On April 28, 2006, while the RAF was involved in a variety of operations in Iraq ( Operation Telic ) and Afghanistan ( Operation Herrick ), he was appointed Chief of the Defense Staff . In this role he accompanied the British Army's operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. From 2006 until the withdrawal of British troops in 2009, Stirrup campaigned in Iraq for the British army stationed in Basra to take stronger action against the militias, which he only partially succeeded in doing. Under his leadership, the British troops finally accompanied Operation Charge of the Knights , which Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had been instrumental in advancing , and during which there was fierce fighting between government and coalition troops in Basra between March 25 and 31 and the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr on the other side.

In Afghanistan, fighting the insurgents in Helmand Province was the main task of the British Army. As early as 2007, Stirrup publicly expressed the opinion for the first time that the conflict in Afghanistan cannot be won by military means alone and that pragmatic negotiations with the various insurgent groups must be entered into. At the same time he endeavored to continuously strengthen and expand the British troops in Afghanistan and had the operations against the rebels stepped up. In a 2009 interview, he expressed concern that rising UK discontent with the war could undermine military success. In 2008 he was confirmed as Chief of Defense Staff and his appointment was extended until 2011. He was finally recalled in October 2010, and was succeeded by the former Chief of the General Staff General David J. Richards .

On October 29, 2010, Stirrup was named a Life Peer with the title Baron Stirrup , of Marylebone in the City of Westminster . He took his seat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher on February 1, 2011 .

In 2014 he was promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force .

family

Jock Stirrup married Mary Alexandra Elliott in 1976, with whom he has a son.

Awards

	Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG)	2013
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)	2005
	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)	2002
	Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)	2000
	Air Force Cross (AFC)	1983
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal	2002
	Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal	2012
	Royal Air Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal	2017
	Oman General Service Medal ( Sultan Qaboos )
	Oman As Samood Medal ( Endurance Medal)
	US Commander of the Legion of Merit

Stirrup continued to receive the following awards throughout his military career:

• Air Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty The Queen
• Honorary Colonel 73 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers) (April 1, 2002 - June 1, 2008)
• Doctor of Science from Cranfield University

He is also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Chartered Management Institute , and a member of the Society of Knights of the Round Table .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ No military solution in Afghanistan Richard Hold, The Telegraph, October 25, 2007 (English)
2. ↑ Loss of Support more damaging than Taliban Adam Arnold, Sky News, December 3, 2009 (English)
3. ↑ 2014 Birthday Honors for service personnel and defense civilians , gov.uk, Ministry of Defense, June 13, 2014, accessed on June 22, 2014 (English).
4. ↑ New appointment to the Order of the Garter http://www.royal.gov.uk (English)
5. ↑ London Gazette, edition 57665, p.2  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ London Gazette, Issue 56614, p.7575.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Membership list ( Memento of the original from February 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. the Society of Knights of the Round Table.  

Web links

• Short biography at Debrett's

predecessor	Office	successor
Peter Squire	Chief of the Air Staff 2003-2006	Glenn Torpy
Sir Michael Walker	Chief of the Defense Staff 2006-2010	Sir David Richards