The Times:

A group of “transformational leaders” have been promoted to the highest echelons of Britain’s armed forces, in a move signalling the government’s intent to reform the military.

The four “four-star” appointments were announced yesterday by Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, who described the next generation of defence chiefs as “forward-looking and keen to modernise” the services.

Vice-Admiral Tim Fraser, 55, will be promoted to admiral and appointed deputy head of the military. Vice-Admiral Tony Radakin, 53, will also become an admiral and will head the navy. Air Marshal Mike Wigston, 50, will become air chief marshal and chief of the RAF, while Lieutenant-General Patrick Sanders, 52, will be promoted to general and appointed Commander Joint Forces Command.......

Top bloke....as my Sqn Boss and later 1* on Ops, he’s one of the good guys.....

Wiggy has always been self-centred with his eyes upward; readily adopted into the RAF oxbridge celestial fraternity as a JO with serious 'sponsorship' to get over any errors or misdeeds. Stu Peach has little tolerance for him and has cut him down more than once, so that could be an interesting dynamic. Indeed, the contrast between Stu Atha and Wiggy could not be greater.

Bugger - I was hoping that Osby would get VCDS.

Would be great to see Osby there, - We'd all hear him speak his mind.
Likely have to move his office though, somewhere with better acoustics and a swear filter fitted...

Peachy no longer sits in a U.K. Defence chain of command, so as fellow 4 Stars they can tell each other where to go quite happily.

Osby’s next move looks like promotion to Mr having missed out on VCDS & Com JFC - let’s be honest, CAS was never on the cards as a Nav. Unless he moves sideways in rank to take over from Tim Fraser as CJO which is the path Peach took. Admiral Tim is one to watch, likely RN candidate for CDS after Parker.

+1 for the Osby fan club. It should be noted that the swearing has pretty much been eradicated for some years now, in polite work settings anyway!

As far as I can gather, ACM Peach has had fairly terse relations with many of the light blue hierarchy over the years... that’s probably both cause and effect of his starred career being exclusively in purple appointments since Comdt AWC and I can’t see it making any difference to Wiggy now. Interesting appointment for sure; he can only have been a 3* for just over a year... most would have guessed at AM Atha, but (judging by the comments in that Times article) his propensity for getting right down in the tactical weeds won’t have helped if a fresh perspective is what SofS and PS are after.

Wiggy only became a 3* on 20 Aug 18!

There are also questions about where Gary Waterfall goes next after his time at PJHQ. Given that Hillier and Wigston were both Tornado drivers, would the failure for both Atha and Waterfall to progress any further represent the final nail in the coffin of the Harrier mafia? Not that I’m even remotely thinking that Service leadership will be driven by inter-fleet politics.

Wiggy is a very good choice in my humble opinion...

As for Osby, yes, what a top bloke. Even the subject of some humour on FaceBook recently!
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....548413d14.jpeg

No: AOC 1, AVM Harv Smyth is a colossus in the Harrier pantheon, widely reckoned to be a shoo-in for higher... and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a lovely bloke. Longer-term, the mafia has done a very fine job of getting its progeny into the F-35 force (well, it does hover and land on boats, right?) so you might as well view that as a continuation. ‘Putting the band back together...’ as AM Atha jarringly captioned a F-35 deck landing clip on social media recently. However, most from Harv downwards went on to fly Typhoon or Tornado, and while there is obvious affection for their former steed, they at least now seem to have chips balanced fairly evenly on each shoulder!