MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Air Commodore To Command Falklands Forces.
A Royal Air Force Officer, Air Commodore John Cliffe, has been appointed to take over as Commander of British Forces in the Falkland Islands (CBFFI), in succession to Brigadier Geoff Sheldon, who returns to the United Kingdom this month.
Air Commodore Cliffe, 47, is an experienced pilot who joined the Royal Air Forced in 1972. He has previously served in the Falkland Islands as a Squadron Leader with 23 Squadron, flying Phantom aircraft. His interests are particularly appropriate to his new posting. He likes ornithology, hill-walking and golf, and shares a keen interest in dogs with his wife Mandy, a former RAF fighter controller, whom he married in 1975.
Air Commodore Cliffe was born in Hyde, Cheshire, and educated at Hyde County Grammar School. An early interest in aviation led him into the Air Training Corps where he completed a gliding course, then won an RAF flying scholarship. After RAF pilot training, he qualified as a weapons instructor and became a Lightning Aerobatics Display pilot, winning the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Services in the Air, and also the OBE. (Officer of the British Empire).
He held various posts in Britain and Germany and commanded the first RAF fighter unit to join the NATO -led operation enforcing the UN "no-fly" zone over the former Yugoslavia, flying Tornado F3s. He was a planning officer at UK RAF Strike Command, attended the Royal College of Defence Studies, and flew other types of aircraft including the Hawk and Bulldog.
Harold Briley, London
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesCommenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!