Sir michael graydon biography

Air Chief MarshalSir Michael James Graydon, GCB, CBE (born 24 October 1938) is a retired Royal Air Force (RAF) officer. He was a fast jet pilot in the 1960s, a squadron commander in the 1970s and a station commander in the 1980s before serving as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command during the Gulf War.

He was Chief of the Air Staff from 1992 to 1997, in which role he advised the British Government on the implementation of No Fly Zones in Iraq and Bosnia and implemented the Front Line First initiative.

RAF career

The son of James Julian Graydon and Rita Mary Graydon (née Alkan), Graydon was educated at Wycliffe College, in the town of Stonehouse in Gloucestershire, and became a flight cadet at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in January 1957^[1] before being commissioned into the Royal Air Force on 15 December 1959.^[2] His potential as a flying instructor was noticed early in his career and, after completing his