Richard Johns

For the NASCAR driver, see Richard Johns (NASCAR).

For Baseball umpire, see Richard Johns (umpire).

Richard Johns
Sir Richard Johns, the Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle, leading the procession to the Garter service in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle
Born	28 July 1939 (1939-07-28)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Commands held	No 1 Group Strike Command Chief of the Air Staff
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Other work	Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edward Johns GCB, KCVO, CBE (born 28 July 1939) is a retired Royal Air Force officer and former Chief of the Air Staff.

RAF career

Educated at Portsmouth Grammar School and RAF College Cranwell, Johns was commissioned in 1959. He underwent flying training on Piston Provosts and Gloster Meteors. Johns went on to fly Hunters in Aden. He also became a Qualified Flying Instructor and, notably, he trained the Prince of Wales to wings standard on the Jet Provost.

In 1982 he became Station Commander and Harrier Force Commander at RAF Gütersloh and it was towards the end of the year when he received the honorary appointment of Aide-de-Camp to the Queen. Following various other appointments he went on to take up the appointment of Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group in 1991. It was also in 1991 that Johns served as one of three British directors of operations on the senior planning staff for Operation Granby (the British contribution to the Gulf War). Johns's next appointment was in 1993 as Deputy Commander-in-Chief RAF Strike Command. Johns was appointed Commander-in-Chief Strike Command on 30 June 1994. However, less than two weeks later, Sir John Thomson who had just been appointed Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces North West Europe died and Johns was posted from Strike Command to the NATO command where he served as Commander-in-Chief until 1997.

He was Chief of the Air Staff from 1997 to April 2000 when he retired from the RAF.

Later work

He was Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle from 2000 to 1 February 2008. He was succeeded in this post by Surgeon Vice Admiral Ian Jenkins, CB, CVO.

Honours and awards

	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)
	Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO)
	Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
	General Service Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal

Further reading

• Goodall, Ray, Wing Commander et al. (2000). Air Power. Disc 1, CD-ROM. Royal Air Force.

Military offices
Preceded by M J D Stear	Station Commander RAF Gutersloh 1982–1984	Succeeded by F W Mitchell
Preceded by R A F Wilson	Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group 1991–1993	Succeeded by P T Squire
Preceded by Sir John Kemball	Deputy Commander-in-Chief Strike Command 1993–1994	Succeeded by Sir John Allison
Preceded by Sir John Thomson	Commander-in-Chief Strike Command 1994	Succeeded by Sir William Wratten
Preceded by Sir John Thomson	Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces North West Europe 1994 – 1997	Succeeded by Sir John Cheshire
Preceded by Sir Michael Graydon	Chief of the Air Staff 1997–2000	Succeeded by Sir Peter Squire
Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir Patrick Palmer	Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle 2000–2008	Succeeded by Ian Jenkins