Warrant Officer Gary Wilcox is the Chief of the Air Staff's Warrant Officer and is therefore the senior Other Ranks in the Royal Air Force.[1]
Wilcox entered training at RAF Halton as an apprentice in October 1974, as part of entry number 124. During his training he represented the RAF in football and athletics. His first posting after graduation was to RAF Scampton to work on Vulcan bombers. In 1978, he was promoted to Corporal and attained a Higher National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering.[1]
He was promoted to Sergeant in 1981 and posted to No. 33 Squadron, RAF Odiham. From here he was detached to Belize, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Turkey and Norway. While posted to Norway he was injured in a crash while flying in a Gazelle. In 1983, he was posted to No. 230 Squadron, RAF Gütersloh, Germany.[1]
In 1986 he was promoted to Chief Technician and posted to 1 Air Maintenance Squadron at RAF Abingdon where he worked on Jaguars.[1]
Wilcox's wife, Sheena, is a Career Guidance Resettlement Consultant for the British military. They have a teenage daughter called Freya.[1]