Christopher Coville

Air Marshal Sir Christopher Charles Cotton Coville, KCB (born 1945) is a retired senior Royal Air Force commander.

RAF career

Born in Liverpool, Coville joined the Royal Air Force in 1964, at the height of the Cold War.^[1] Early in his career he flew Lightnings and F4 Phantoms.^[1] He assumed command of No. 111 (Fighter) Squadron in 1983,^[2] and then became Group Captain Air at Headquarters No. 11 Group.^[1] In 1986 he became Station Commander at RAF Coningsby,^[3] where he flew Tornado F3 and displayed Hurricanes and Spitfires on the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.^[1] Promoted to air vice marshal, he became Air Officer Commanding Training Units in 1992, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff Operational Requirements (Air Systems) in 1994 and Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe in 1998.^[1] In 2000 his NATO command was absorbed into the Regional Headquarters Allied Forces North Europe of which Coville became the Deputy Commander-in-Chief.^[4] In March 2001 he became the Air Member for Personnel and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Personnel and Training Command.^[1] He retired in 2003.^[1]

Coville was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2000 New Year Honours.^[1]

In retirement he was appointed Chairman of Westland Helicopters.^[1]

Family

He is married to Irene and they have one son and two daughters.^[1]

References