However, following the sudden death of the then Commander-in-Chief Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Moran, Pulford was in turn reassigned and Garwood promoted to air marshal and confirmed in post.
14 Facts About Richard Garwood
1.
2.
Richard Garwood was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions in the Gulf War, and appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2010 Birthday Honours.
3.
Richard Garwood was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 New Year Honours.
4.
Richard Garwood graduated from King's College London with a Master of Arts in Defence Studies.
5.
In 1985 Richard Garwood was promoted to flight lieutenant and moved to the Tactical Weapons Unit at RAF Brawdy to instruct students on the Hawk training aircraft, becoming a Qualified Weapons Instructor.
6.
In 1987, Richard Garwood began an exchange tour with the United States Air Force, flying the RF-4C Phantom from Bergstrom Air Force Base in Texas.
7.
Richard Garwood flew 19 night low-level reconnaissance sorties during the battle phase of the operation and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
8.
In 1993, Richard Garwood moved to the Ministry of Defence as a staff officer in Operational Requirements and then, in 1995, attended the Army Staff College at Camberley.
9.
On promotion to group captain in 2000 Richard Garwood returned to Marham as Station Commander, this tour including deployment to East Africa as Commander British Forces during Operation Ramson, carrying out air operations over the Horn of Africa in support of Operation Veritas in Afghanistan; he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2002.
10.
Richard Garwood attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2003 before deploying to Qatar to become the first post-combat phase Air Component Commander for Operation Telic in Iraq.
11.
Richard Garwood returned to the UK in late 2003 to become Air Commodore Force Elements at No 1 Group, his promotion to that rank coming in January 2004.
12.
Richard Garwood became Director-General of the Military Aviation Authority on 1 May 2013.
13.
Richard Garwood became Director-General of the Defence Safety Authority in April 2015.
14.
Already Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Richard Garwood was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 New Year Honours.