A new Station Commander, Group Captain Chris Luck, is to take control of RAF Shawbury this Friday after a week’s handover from Group Captain Bunny James.
Group Captain Luck joined the RAF as a direct entrant in 1984. He undertook basic flying training on the Chipmunk and Jet Provost followed by helicopter training at RAF Shawbury. His first operational tour was with 33 Squadron at RAF Odiham, which included deployments to Northern Ireland, Belize and to Iraq on OP GRANBY. He was then posted to 230 Squadron at RAF Aldergrove from 1992 to 1996, returning briefly to RAF Shawbury in 1992 to train as a Qualified Helicopter Instructor. His tour included a United Nations deployment to Bosnia on OP OCCULUS, as well as an extended stint with the Northern Ireland Special Operations Support Flight.
He left 230 Squadron to return to RAF Odiham as the Puma Operational Conversion Unit Flight Commander, 27(R) Squadron. Towards the end of the tour he led the departure of the last of RAF Odiham’s Pumas to join 33 Squadron at RAF Benson. A posting to RAF Strike Command followed as the Rotary desk officer, which then migrated to the newly formed Joint Helicopter Command at HQ Land, Wilton.
On finishing at Joint Helicopter Command in August 2001, he was posted to the Kuwait Air Force as an Advisor and helicopter instructor at Ali Al Salem Air Base, flying Pumas and Gazelles. The tour lasted until April 2003 and included the opening phase of OP TELIC. This was followed by Advanced Staff College at the United States Air Force Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. On completion of the course he remained on the directing staff, completing the tour as the Deputy Director of Strategy and War. This was immediately followed by a return to study as the first ever non-US student at the USAF’s School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, also based at Maxwell Air Force Base.
Group Captain Luck returned to the UK in 2007 to take command of 33 Squadron at RAF Benson. This tour was set against the backdrop of ongoing Puma support to operations on OP TELIC and was completed in June 2009. Promoted to Group Captain in June 2009, he was posted to the Permanent Joint Headquarters as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff in the J5 Plans branch, with specific responsibility for the Broader Middle East region and global Counter Terrorism.
Group Captain Luck is an A2 QHI with over 4900hrs of military flying, of which 4300hrs is on the Puma. He was awarded an MBE for his contribution to operations in Northern Ireland. He has a Masters degree in Military Operational Art and a Masters degree in Strategic Air power from the USAF schools he attended. He is currently studying for a PhD in Strategic Air Power as an RAF sponsored Portal Fellow at the University of Reading. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He is married to Sara and they have two daughters and a son. He enjoys horse riding, skiing, running and continuing his ongoing studies.
Group Captain Bunny James departs an excellent 2 years at Shawbury to move to the Higher Command Staff Course at Shrivenham before a posting in the USA at the Headquarters Central Command, Tampa Bay, as the Chief of Staff UK Element Operations Planning Interface.
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