Iain McNicoll

Iain McNicoll
Born	3 May 1953
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1975-2010
Rank	Air Marshal
Commands held	No. 17 Squadron RAF Brüggen No. 2 Group
Battles/wars	Op ALLIED FORCE
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air

Air Marshal Iain Walter McNicoll CB CBE FRAeS (born 3 May 1953) is a retired Royal Air Force officer. He was formerly Deputy Commander-in-Chief Operations, RAF Air Command.

RAF career

Educated at the High School of Dundee and the University of Edinburgh, where he gained a BSc, and having been in the East Lowlands Universities Air Squadron McNicoll joined the Royal Air Force Flying Branch in 1975.^[1]

He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 17(F) Squadron in 1992^[1] and Assistant Director of Operational Capability at the Ministry of Defence in 1996. He went on to be Personal Staff Officer to the Chief of the Defence Staff in 1997^[1] and Station Commander RAF Brüggen in 1998 in which role had operational control of the base's Tornado aircraft during 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.^[1]

He became Director of Force Development in 2000,^[1] Director-General of Joint Doctrine and Concepts in 2002^[1] and Air Officer Commanding No. 2 Group in 2005.^[1] His last appointment was as Deputy Commander-in-Chief (Operations) at Air Command in 2007,^[1] in which role he had to defend the airworthiness of his ageing aircraft,^[2] before he retired in April 2010.

Personal life

He married Wendelien van den Biggelaar, a Dutch citizen, in 1980: they have one son and two daughters.^[1]

Honours

McNicoll has been recipient of a number of honours and awards, including:

• Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air - 1989
• Commander of the Order of the British Empire - 2000
• Companion of the Order of the Bath - 2006

Reference list