Air Marshal Geoffrey David Shepherd was born on 24 January 1952 and is a retired senior officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, who served as Chief of Air Force from 2005 until 2008.
15 Facts About Geoff Shepherd
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Geoff Shepherd had operational flying tours on Mirage III fighter aircraft at RAAF Base Butterworth in Malaysia, the F-111 strike bomber at RAAF Base Amberley, both as a line pilot and as the Training Flight Commander and as a flying instructor at No 1 Flying Training School RAAF Base Point Cook.
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Geoff Shepherd has approximately 4500 flying hours, including 2500 hours in the F-111.
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Geoff Shepherd has held staff appointments at 82 Wing HQ, as the Assistant Defence Adviser at the Australian High Commission in Singapore, and in Force Development in the field of capability analysis.
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Geoff Shepherd undertook staff training at the Joint Services Staff College.
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Geoff Shepherd was promoted to air commodore on 1 December 1998 and served two years as the Chief of Staff at HQ Air Command.
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Geoff Shepherd was the Director General Operations at the Defence Signals Directorate from January 2001 until October 2002, when he moved on to become Director-General Joint Operations and Plans in Strategic Operations Division.
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Air Commodore Geoff Shepherd was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day 2000 Honours List.
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Geoff Shepherd was promoted to air vice marshal on 2 December 2003 and appointed Air Commander Australia taking effect 15 December 2003.
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On 23 May 2005, the Minister for Defence announced that, upon promotion to air marshal, Geoff Shepherd would succeed Angus Houston as the Chief of Air Force.
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Geoff Shepherd was given one final stairway guard by the young men and women of the Australian Air Force Cadets, who were on a camp at RAAF Base East Sale at the time.
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Geoff Shepherd was succeeded as CAF by Air Marshal Mark Binskin.
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Geoff Shepherd is known throughout the RAAF for calling out "Cooee", a distinctive Australian vocalisation used mainly in the outback, with which he ended his first address as Chief of Air Force.
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Geoff Shepherd is married to Anne, with whom he has two sons.
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Geoff Shepherd's interests include gardening, rugby league football, travelling and understanding other cultures.