Reginald Harland

Reginald Edward Wynyard Harland , KBE , CB , AE , FRAeS , FIMechE , FIEE , CCMI (born May 30, 1920 in Sheffield - † July 30, 2013 ) was a British officer in the Royal Air Force , most recently as Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) between 1972 Acting Commanding General AOC-in-C (air Officer Commanding in Chief) of the air support Command ( RAF air support Command ) , 1973 Commanding General of the maintenance Command of the air force ( RAF maintenance Command ) , and most recently from 1973 to 1977 the first Commanding General of the support Command of the Air Force ( Support Command ) was.

Life

Officer training and World War II

Reginald Edward Wynyard Harland began after visiting the Summer Fields School and the Stowe School study majoring in mechanical engineering at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge , which he with a Master of Arts degree in Civil Engineering graduated. During his studies he was a member of the Cambridge University Air Squadron , the aviation squadron of the University of Cambridge and was admitted to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) on October 3, 1939 with the rank of lieutenant (pilot officer) after the start of the Second World War , the Air Force Volunteer Reserve. In 1940 he became a technical officer of No. 295 Squadron RAF and formally transferred to the RAF Technical Service on April 21, 1941. In the further course of the war he first became a technical officer of the aircraft research and development facility RAE (Royal Aircraft Establishment) at the RAF Farnborough military airport in 1941 and an engineer officer of No. 241 Squadron RAF , before becoming an engineer officer of No. 214 Group RAF became.

Post-war period and staff officer

After the war, Harland was 1946 first staff officer in the Department of technical training and technical planning in the Air Ministry ( Air Ministry ) and 1,947 staff officer in the department of volunteers and reserve in the Air Ministry. On March 6, 1947 he was accepted as a professional soldier (Permanent Commission) with the rank of captain (Flight Lieutenant) in the Royal Air Force (RAF), the promotion being dated back to September 1, 1945. He was initially a pilot at a flight school and in 1950 became chief training engineer at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell , where he was promoted to Major (Squadron Leader) on July 1, 1950 . After 1952, a missile training at the Royal Military College of Science in Shrivenham had graduated, he became in 1953 the project officer for the Thunderbird - anti-aircraft missile project of the Royal Aircraft Establishment and then 1,955 staff officer in the Ministry of Supply (Ministry of Supply) . In this application he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (Wing Commander) on January 1, 1956 .

In February 1958, Reginald Harland was transferred to the joint military mission BJSM (British Joint Services Mission) in Los Angeles as a ballistic missile liaison officer, where he subsequently worked on various projects for the development and construction of ICBMs such as Thor , Atlas , Titan , LGM-30 Minuteman, and Mercury programs . On his return he was on July 1, 1960. Colonel (Group Captain) promoted and took over shortly afterwards on 24 July 1960 the post of commander ( Commanding Officer ) of the air base RAF Swanton Morley and stationed on the central service development facility CSDE (Central Servicing Development Establishment) . On September 24, 1962, he became Chief Technical Staff Officer STSO (Senior Technical Staff Officer) of No. 3 (Bomber) Group RAF .

Ascent to the Air Marshal

1964 Harland engineer staff officer at the headquarters of the Air Forces in the Far East (Far East Air Force) , where he was promoted to Brigadier General ( Air Commodore ) on July 1, 1965 . In 1967 he returned to the UK and became director of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier project in the Ministry of Technology . After attending Imperial Defense College (IDC) from 1969 onwards , he succeeded Air Vice Marshal John Hunter-Tod as AOC (Air Officer Commanding) in command of No. 24 Group RAF and was promoted to Major General (Air Vice Marshal) on July 1, 1970 . On February 19, 1972, he became an engineer staff officer acting commanding general AOC-in-C (Air Officer Commanding in Chief) of the Air Support Command ( RAF Air Support Command ) and held this post until the command was dissolved on September 1, 1972.

On June 2, 1973 Reginald Harland Air Marshal John Samuel Rowlands replaced as Commanding General of the Air Force Maintenance Command ( RAF Maintenance Command ) and remained in this role until the command was dissolved on August 31, 1973. On June 3, 1972, he was also Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). Last was on August 31, 1973 first commanding general of the Air Force Support Command ( Support Command ) . He was made Knight Commander of the Order of British Empire (KBE) in 1974 and has since had the addition of "Sir". He was also promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) on July 1, 1974 . On June 13, 1977 he handed over command of the Support Command to Air Marshal Rex Roe , who was now the commanding general of the RAF Support Command. On August 8, 1977, he left active military service and retired.

Harland received the Air Efficiency Award (AE). He was also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS), the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), the Institution of Electrical Engineers (FIEE) and Companion of the Chartered Management Institute (CCMI).

Web link

• Air Marshal Sir Reginald Harland (rafweb.org)

Individual evidence

1. ^ RAF Swanton Morley: Commanding Officers (rafweb.org)
2. ↑ No. 24 Group RAF: Air Officers Commanding (rafweb.org)
3. ↑ RAF Maintenance Command (rafweb.org)
4. ↑ Support Command (rafweb.org)
5. ↑ KNIGHTS AND DAMES (leighrayment.com)