Former RAF Lossiemouth station commander, Air Marshal Ian Gale, named in King's New Year Honours list
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A FORMER RAF Lossiemouth station commander has been named in the King's New Year Honours list.
Air Marshal Ian Gale has been appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) - a title which is second only to a knighthood.
The honour is the perfect way for Ian to cap over 30 years in the RAF with the Moray resident set to leave the service this year.
He said: "To be informed of this is very humbling. It was a surprise to hear it and it was a bit of a shock.
"I wasn't expecting it but it has made me reflect on the whole 30 years of service and all the people that have made it possible and all of the adventures and some of the sad things as well.
"It's a very emotional moment."
Originally from Wales, Ian joined the RAF after finishing school in 1989.
From there, he served as a fast jet pilot and weapons instructor but it wasn't until 2008 that he moved to RAF Lossiemouth; initially commanding No. 31 Squadron before taking over as station commander in 2011.
Ian said: "As station commander, I oversaw the reconfiguration of the base to swap over from Tornados to Typhoons which basically gives the base the lease of life for 30 years.
"I have been coming to Lossiemouth for my entire career though. I've had detachments to Lossiemouth and Kinloss previously but 2008 was the first time we had all come up to live in Moray permanently.
"And like many station commanders before me, we decided we didn't want to leave."
Ian subsequently moved to an appointment responsible for the upgrade and replacement of surveillance and intelligence aircraft and systems.
The role saw him plan and then deliver the P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft which is now stationed at RAF Lossiemouth. In doing so, he picked up a number of awards.
"The Poseidon project is probably the single biggest thing that I have worked on," Ian said.
"Very few people get to write a case that says that we should get a new aircraft and then buy the aircraft, get it delivered and see it flying operations in such a short space of time because normally aircraft procurement is a very long-term thing.
"This was done in a very quick way and I worked on that from cradle to grave really.
"It ended with the first aircraft being delivered to Lossiemouth and I named the first two 'Pride of Moray' and 'City of Elgin' so there is quite local angle to that."
Ian also made the case for the E7 Wedgetail, an early warning and control aircraft, which will be based at RAF Lossiemouth this year.
He then became Assistant Chief of the RAF before moving to a role delivering futures planning, training for the RAF, Army, Navy as well as Space and Cyber Forces.
However, having decided to leave the RAF later this year, Ian will be spending much more time at home in Moray with his wife Sally.
His flying days are not over, however, with Ian set to continue flying light aircraft and gliders locally.
