Topic: Innovating for War: Air Commodore Blythe Crawford will examine how we need to change our structures, processes and culture to provide rapid capability for the RAF.
Dress Code: Business attire
Air Commodore Crawford was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1993. As a Tornado F3 Weapons Systems Officer, he enjoyed tours with 111(F) and XXV(F) Squadrons, participating in Operations SOUTHERN WATCH, ADANA and BOLTON and detachments to the Falkland Islands. He was then posted to the Tornado F3 Operational Conversion Unit as an instructor.
As a Squadron Leader, he was posted to the Tactical Leadership Programme in Florennes, Belgium, during which time he completed a Masters degree in International Relations at Cambridge University. He then served in the CAOC in Al Udeid before becoming a Flight Commander on XXV(F) Squadron and then Executive Officer of 111(F) Squadron.
Promoted to Wing Commander in 2009 Crawford was selected for Advanced Command and Staff College, simultaneously completing an MA in Defence Studies, prior to posting to the Pentagon to work for the Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategic Plans and Programs, in Headquarters, USAF. He then returned to the UK to command Operations Wing at RAF Leuchars, where he oversaw the transfer of QRA to RAF Lossiemouth and stood up the Expeditionary Air Wing. He deployed as CO of 121 EAW in 2013 in support of OPERATION LUMINOUS, before short notice deployment as XO to the Commanding General, 1st Infantry Division, in Baghdad as part of OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE, where he was awarded the MSM. Crawford was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, 2015.
He fulfilled the position of Deputy Director of Defence Studies at the Defence Academy, subsequently being promoted to Group Captain and taking up the position of Assistant Head Development within Joint Warfare in Joint Forces Command. He then returned to Washington as the UK representative of the Chief of Staff of the USAF’s Strategic Studies Group in 2016 where he was the interoperability lead for the Multi Domain Command and Control Enterprise Collaboration Team, before participating in the development of the USAF’s innovation strategy and the Joint AI Centre.
Crawford took command of RAF Leeming in 2019, overseeing a diverse array of outputs and visiting Exercises, whilst also setting up the RAFX Innovation Hub. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year’s Honours List, 2022 before then attended Higher Command and Staff College, prior to promotion to Air Commodore.
He subsequently commanded the UK’s Air & Space Warfare Centre, where he drove transformational change in the face of war in Europe, developing a Prototype Warfare Team which delivered capability from concept to theatre in 6-8 weeks, driving the use of AI both in staff and support to operations, created a Spectrum Warfare Division, the largest in the UK, to exploit EW and the UK’s first UAS T&E facility, DroneWorks, based at Boscombe Down.
He is married to Sally, has one son, and maintains a keen interest in innovation, history, rugby, and country pursuits while continuing a Doctorate at Durham University.
