Air Vice-Marshal Simon Edwards
MA RAF Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Strategy)
Simon joined the Royal Air Force in 1990 through a Sixth Form Scholarship scheme. He is an Air Transport pilot, initially flying the C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster. He was also a Qualified Flying Instructor on the Shorts Tucano. AVM Edwards commanded the RAF’s C-17 Squadron from 2008 until 2010, led Number 904 Expeditionary Air Wing at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan in 2011, and was the Station Commander for RAF Brize Norton from 2014 until 2017, home to Air Mobility operations and military parachuting; he gained his parachutist’s wings in 2016. Edwards’ staff tours in between have been focused in the Joint and Capability areas at both MOD and Air Command.
Graduating from the Royal College of Defence Studies in the summer of 2017, Edwards worked briefly in the Cabinet Office as a policy adviser in the National Security Secretariat. He completed the Higher Command and Staff Course before taking on the role of Assistant Chief of Staff for Capability Delivery at Headquarters Air Command. In that role he completed the Major Projects Leadership Academy for high-risk, high value government projects and was the Senior Responsible Owner for a wide portfolio, including the A400M Tactical Airlifter and the United Kingdom Military Flying Training System (MFTS).
Promoted to Air Vice-Marshal in May 2021, Simon has returned to the Ministry of Defence as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Strategy).
Simon is married with two grown-up sons. He is an Assistant to the Court of the Worshipful Company of Coopers in the City of London, and occupies his spare time with DIY at home, or preventing his ageing riverboat from succumbing to the River Thames.