new CAS
 

So the worst kept secret in Air Command now official...Pulford to be next CAS. Peach to take up VCDS role.

Beeb says "Pulford trained as a helicopter pilot, with 5,000 hours in Wessex and Chinook aircraft".

Is he the first non FJ CAS?

There is a very pleasing irony in this.

Andy Pulford was the president of the BOI for the infamous Mull of Kintyre Chinook accident.

John Day's attempt to belittle him personally to the media after he over-ruled the initial findings was disgraceful.

JD was subsequently "overlooked" for the CAS job.

Especially, in view of that: Andy, congratulations, very well done, your airship!! :ok:

For those who may have missed the announcement:

I am sorry but isn't Peachy over 55? Are we really that short (pun intended) of really senior occifers?:suspect:

What a great set of appointments! AP is first rate as is SP. I sense that for once in several generations we may get a set at the top who will work together in harmony with the other S, especially with GZ at the head of the RN. Question is who will be CDS? Houghton or Stanhope?

As for the RAF where does this leave Garwood and Anderson - both discoloured by the FAA/RAF wars of the past 10 years.

Beerdrinker - I think you're right that he's the first CAS without any FJ (or equivalent) experience. Sir Peter Harding's career included a stint as boss of 18 Squadron in their early days on the Wessex, but he'd flown Canberras before that. So he er... bucked the trend (in more ways than one as it transpired).

Sir Timmo was in deep conspitorial discussion with a senior Army officer last Thursday in the Pillard Hall. I wonder...

Next CAS.
 

I, too, would like to congratulate Andy on his appointment as the next CAS in July - as a rotary man through and through (Ret'd), his appointment is indeed a first; good to know there'll be a steady hand at the helm as the RAF prepares to adjust post Afghanistan/Defence cuts.

Don't know any of the chaps involved but I'm sure they're all spiffing.

I did note that in his biog it says that ACM Peach flew Canberras and Tornado. As he is wearing Nav wings shouldn't that read "flew in" Canberras and Tornado?

CDS is earmarked for the Army - Wall or Houghton

God forbid we'd choose the best man as CDS instead of the ridiculous buggins turn between the forces.........

So the failed Linton / Valley , passed Shawbury boys did well in the end. Top dogs in both the RN and RAF

Nothing is earmarked as it is the personal choice of the PM and recommended to the Queen.

As the requirement for the next 5 years will be to deliver the CEPP capability, in particular CVF, and replacement Vanguard etc one could see Stanhope as a likely contender. I would say Wall does not even feature, neither does Dalton (RAF told too many untruths in SDSR).

CAS
 

Congrats to Sir Pulford.
I always thought he was destined for greatness, but I didn't think he would go all the way to the top!

I will always remember the bollocking for the monthly Sqn history entry that included a joke and sarcasm. God I felt so small!

Top bloke for the top job :D

...asuming we get our CVF (and, therefore CEPP) and a Trident replacement.

Isn't Stanhope already over 60? Also I would have thought his inability to get on with the other Services would be a black mark against him, just as it is for CAS. OTOH I have heard he is best mates with Cameron (which doesn't fit in with all the stories told by the RN but heyho!)

Bismark your view of defence's priorities could be seen as slightly service oriented! The Army probably see reconfiguring to a viable 82k man Army as quite important. Also going by General Whatever's speech in the Lords, Vanguard might not get replaced - there are far cheaper ways of still being able to say we have nukes when you know you will never use them than purpose built SSBNs (can't honestly see that happening though).

Agree on Wall or Houghton.

The great thing about this thread, unlike many others, is that we will see who is right in a few months - someone bookmark it up and resurrect it.

One might also consider that the last thing Prime Minister Dave would wish for is a Naval CDS when he might be feeling iffy about replacing Trident, feeling twitchy about the carrier order/future/configuration and feeling more than a little uncertain about the future of F-35B.

No RAF contenders, so that leaves the Army anyway.

Wall was seen gloating too much immediately after SDSR when the Army seemed to have got away with it. he then was rumbled with the manpower funding black hole which resulted in reduce to 82K. The Army will be too focused on regrouping and working out what exactly will be their role and kit to worry about the bigger picture of defence. Contrary to Backwards my observations have been that Stanhope gets on quite well with the other Service Chiefs.....however, the answer is most likely Houghton - a very good Joint man (who trusts the RAF even less than Cameron does!).

Whoever gets the top job is going to have to resolve the question of "who owns what capability" - does it sit with the owner of the biggest risk or the one who thinks it is his God given right?

Ah. I was with you most of the way through that, Bismark. Lost it at the end, though. Not very joint, are you?

The way things are going, are we not hastening towards a very Single service?

Question ...

I note that a few Station Commanders, Odiam and Lossie to name two, are now Tweeting ... will the new CAS be tempted to Twitter ? Perhaps the next time he's lurking on PPRuNe he might let us know his thoughts on such matters :confused:

Only if we're nice to him. Anyway, how do you know he isn't already?

Courtney ... Most of us on PPRuNe are nice fellows :ok:

And yes I'm sure all the Top Team pop by in stealth mode from time to time :ok:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-senior-military-officers-appointed

Well as long as they aren’t being made redundant. Bad timing I feel.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/t...cies-announced

Way to go, Pulfs... :ok:

Don't forget there is also Harps as well as Timmo... So there are a couple of Sir three-stars in the wings (TBD).

Pre-Meteor
 

I think you will find that every CAS before the Meteor was non-FJ. This is great appointment and I win my bet from when I worked for him as AOC2.:):ok:

A good man, the RAF will do ok with him at the helm.

I believe he likes to holiday at Butlins........ ask him!

Again the whisperings I hear are very different from you, Bismark. Apparently Cameron was very impressed by the RAF performance in Ellamy from fast air to ISTAR and C2 and much in between.

Bet you can't believe your luck that Mali is landlocked - still I'm sure it won't stop the irrepressible RN PR machine.

It will be General Sir Nick Houghton for the top job. As a member of the esteemed brown jobs, I can honestly say that Wall does NOT have the confidence of the wider Army and I have been very critical of him on another website. The fact that the heads of both the RAF and RNa re helicopter pilots is thoroughly good news because (i) it should stop the ridiculous turf wars and (ii) it recognises that rotary assets are critical to our current and future military operations.

I think you make a good point there, Scopie. The only thing that worries me is, since when did not having the backing of the chaps ever stop anyone from being promoted. I'm sure I don't need to offer examples here.

A better statement would be 'he is the first rotary CAS'. Back in the day it was bomber pilots who had a stranglehold on the top job, and in no way can you equate a Lancaster with a FJ! The last non-FJ CAS was Sir Michael Beetham (1977-82), who was a Lancaster and Valiant pilot. Admittedly that's quite a while ago, so a change was definitely due.

Got to agree with earlier comments about the SH force; if we're out of Afghanistan before SDSR-2, as expected, then it will be interesting to see how much effort Pulford puts into defending his old patch. SH will look ripe for culling, and there will be knives out for FJ as usual. Who knows where he will focus?

Hopefully the results of Timo and Garwood's inter-service warfare will put our airships off such antics in future. An unmitigated failure both for them and the Service. And that applies to those on the other side of the argument as well... time to kill off some single-service dinos...

I would observe that Cameron was reportedly forced into keeping the carriers because the contracts had been so comprehensively stitched-up by the Brown government and BAES (doubtless with the connivance of the Naval staff) that it was impossible to cancel them. Hardly the way to get off to a good start with the new PM. Ditto the way the RN got caught fudging the funding of its slew of one-way exchanges with the USN. Don't talk to me about trust.

That's a great line to hang out there without any back-up. If you're referring to F35C, well, the RN wanted it too, if their eagerness for those USN F18 slots was anything to go by. If it's Harrier vs Tornado, the continued good performance of the latter in HERRICK and its star turn in ELLAMY put that one to bed a while ago (although I accept that some fanatics will never acknowledge that). What else are you referring to? :confused:

Really........
 

Courtney Mil,

Are you so naive to suggest the RN will not get CVF, open your eyes.

:ugh:

Regards FNS

Naive? I'm well known for it around here. My concern is that nothing is given at the moment. Not getting the platform at all would be a disaster, hopefully highly unlikely. I also worry about what configuration it will end up in and whether we have any fast air operating from it; for a long time at least.

But that's massive thread drift. My point is which colour Dave C might not favour given his possible "difficult choices" yet to come.

Which Dave C do you mean Courtney?

The lightweight but massively expensive one with the larger spread, the heavier bottom and undercarriage, which cannot hook onto anything with any certainty and which certainly cannot shoot straight unless it has help bolted on; or the CATOBAR version of the F-35 destined for the USN?

:E

Good one, Finnpog. I walked right into that.

Easy, it is widely recognised that Stirrup stitched up the RN and FAA in the final moments (literally) of SDSR - Cameron realised this later. The announcement re the Ferguson study are a direct result of all this.

The damage done to the RAF by Anderson et al will be felt for years to come as no one trusts the top of the RAF to tell the truth.

Ellamy was a huge success for the RAF but had nothing to do with those at the top.

The "fudge" by the RN re F18 was supported by both MoD and the Treasury. The FAA had to get the FW stream out of the hands of 22 Gp and the USN wanted to ensure the survival of proper Naval aviators as they were horrified by the RAF attitude to embarked ops (ie minimal exposure, hop on hop off). Again I refer you back to the Ferguson report.

I am very Joint in disposition but have totally lost faith in the RAF as a cooperative organisation.

Sad really ... money and politics (small p ... and large P) are the root of all evil ... even in the Services :(

... and remind me again in whose constituency (or very near) the carriers are being built ..... :rolleyes:

But a suitably Joint BZ for Pull-through, who is a very good bloke IMHO. :ok:

... who is likely to be staying in Brussels for another 3 years.