Jock Kennedy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Thomas Lawrie "Jock" Kennedy , GCB , AFC & Bar , DL (born May 19, 1928 in Hawick , Scotland ; † May 18, 2013 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , most recently in the rank of General ( Air Chief Marshal ) Between 1983 and 1986 he was an Air Member for Personnel on the Air Force Board .

Life

Military training and air force officer

After attending high school in Hawick, the town of his birth, Kennedy began his military service (National Service) in the Air Force in April 1946 , but began his officer training in the B-Squadron at the Royal six months later in January 1947 as a Flight Cadet Air Force College Cranwell . He belonged to the second officer training class after the Second World War . He was a member of the college fencing team and was awarded the Philip Sassoon Memorial Trophy named after Philip Sassoon . After completing his training, he was accepted into the RAF on April 8, 1949 as a first lieutenant (Flying Officer) as a professional officer (Permanent Commission) . After attending a pilot course at a flight training school, he became a pilot at No. 1 , equipped with Handley Page Hastings transport aircraft . 297 Squadron RAF and flew with this sorties in the Berlin Airlift . During his subsequent tenures as a pilot on the No. 53 Squadron RAF and No. 511 Squadron RAF he was promoted to Captain (Flight Lieutenant) on November 8, 1951 . In 1952 he flew a Handley Page Hastings to assist in one of Air Vice Marshal Dermot Boyle led seven-week round trip of four English Electric Canberra - combat aircraft , the 24,000 Miles and 14 countries of South America included. For this he received the Air Force Cross (AFC) on June 1, 1953 .

After Kennedy had participated in an officer exchange program in the 36th Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1953 and during this time had flown supply flights during the Korean War , he himself attended a course for the English Electric Canberra fighter aircraft and was then aviation commander of the 1955 equipped with this type of aircraft No. 27 Squadron RAF , with which he had participated in operations during the Suez Crisis .

Staff officer

After his promotion to Major (Squadron Leader ) on 1 July 1957, he was Chief pilot in the Royal Radar Establishment (RRE), the Radar Research Center of the Royal Air Force, and was awarded for its local services as a pilot of Vickers Valiant - bombers for the first January 1960 also a clasp for the Air Force Cross (AFC & Bar) . He then moved to the selection committee of RAF College Cranwell and then visited the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1962, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel (Wing Commander) on July 1, 1962 .

After that Kennedy was born on September 7, 1962 operations officer on the staff of the air force in the Middle East (Air Forces Middle East) and on December 27, 1965 Commander ( Commanding Officer ) of with Bristol Britannia equipped -Transportflugzeugen No. 99 Squadron RAF on the military airfield RAF Lyneham . With this unit he flew airlifts to Zambia in November 1965 after Southern Rhodesia, as the Republic of Rhodesia, had unilaterally declared independence from Great Britain. After his promotion to Colonel (Group Captain) on July 1, 1967, he was on August 4, 1967 Group Leader for Strategic Operations at the headquarters of the newly established Air Support Command ( RAF Air Support Command ) and then in 1970 Commander of the RAF Brize Norton Air Force Base .

Promotion to Air Chief Marshal and retirement

Kennedy was promoted to Brigadier General ( Air Commodore ) on January 1, 1971 , and then served between April 5, 1971 and December 22, 1973 as deputy commandant of RAF Staff College Bracknell . He then became Head of Unit for Air Support in the Operations Department of the Air Staff and then attended the Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS) in London from January 13, 1976 .

Kennedy then took over the post of Commander of the North Sea Air Region (Northern Maritime Air Region) on April 2, 1977, as well as AOC (Air Officer Commanding) for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and as such on July 1, 1977 was also Major General (Air Vice Marshal) promoted. In addition, on June 3, 1978, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). As the successor to Air Marshal Robert Freer between December 15, 1979 and his replacement by Air Marshal Peter Bairsto on February 2, 1981, he was Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the RAF Strike Command (Deputy Air Officer Commander-in-Chief) of the Air Force Strike Command ( RAF Strike Command ) . In this use he was beaten on December 31, 1979 to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and from then on carried the suffix "Sir". He was also promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) on July 1, 1980 .

On February 2, 1981, Kennedy succeeded Air Marshal Peter Terry as Commander in Chief of the British Air Force in Germany ( RAF Germany ) and as such was at the same time commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Force ( RAF Second Tactical Air Force ) before joining these two Released on April 9, 1983 by Air Marshal Patrick Hine . He was last on May 7, 1983 succeeds Air Marshal Charles Ness as a member of staff (Air Member for Personnel) in Air Force Committee (Air Force Board) and held this position from until his retirement on May 10, 1986, after which he was replaced by Air Marshal Anthony Skingsley . As such he was from August 22, 1983 to May 10, 1986 at the same time aide-de-camp of Queen Elizabeth II for the Air Force. He was also promoted to General (Air Chief Marshal) on July 1, 1983 and also on December 31, 1984 as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB).

After his retirement, Kennedy became the controller of the Air Forces Charity Fund (RAF Benevolent Fund) and was director of the aircraft supplier Dowty Group between 1987 and 1992 . In 1987 he also became an honorary citizen of London and was also an honorary member (Honorary Liveryman) of the fruit traders' guild ( Worshipful Company of Fruiterers ) . On 9 January 1989, he was also Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of the county Leicestershire and then took over on 1 April 1997 the post of Lord Lieutenant of Rutland . He held this position as representative of the Queen in this county until May 19, 2003 and was then replaced by Laurence Howard . He was also at times vice chairman of the East Midlands Reserve Forces 'and Cadets' Association .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kennedy, jock
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kennedy, Sir Thomas Lawrie (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH May 19, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Hawick , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH May 18, 2013