Joe French

Air Chief Marshal Sir Joseph Charles French, KCB, CBE, FRAeS, ADC (born 15 July 1949), often known as Sir Joe French, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer who was the last Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command (2006–07).

French joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1967 and qualified as a helicopter pilot, flying Wessex, Puma and Chinook.^[1] Postings included Sharjah, Hong Kong, Germany and an operational tour of Northern Ireland in 1972, for which he was Mentioned in Despatches.^[2] He was commanding officer of No. 7 Squadron (Chinook) at RAF Odiham, where he was later station commander (1989–91).^[1]

French attended the RAF Staff College and the Royal College of Defence Studies.^[1] Staff postings included aide-de-camp to the Chief of the Defence Staff, and Personal Staff Officer to the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Strike Command. He served on the staff of the Central Trials and Tactics Organisation, and was Head of the RAF Presentation Team.^[1]

French served as Director of Air Force Staff Duties,^[1] and as Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Policy),^[1] before being appointed Director-General of Intelligence Collection.^[1] He was Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI) from 2000,^[1] and it was while he was CDI that the controversial September Dossier was drafted which attempted to assess the state of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.^[1] He was appointed Commander-in-Chief Personnel and Training Command and Air Member for Personnelin 2003^[1] and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Strike Command in 2006.^[3]

French was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 New Year Honours,^[4] and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2003 New Year Honours.^[5]

Upon his retirement in 2007, French became President of the RAF Servicing Commando and Tactical Supply Wing Association.^[6]