Alan Gillespie

Air Marshal Alan Kenneth Gillespie CBE is a senior Royal Air Force officer. He currently serves as the Director General of the Defence Safety Authority.

Alan Gillespie
Air Marshal Gillespie in 2019
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1988–
Rank	Air Marshal
Commands	No. 23 Squadron No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing RAF Waddington No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group No. 2 Group Military Aviation Authority Defence Safety Authority
Battles / wars	Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire

RAF career

Gillespie was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1988.^[1] He became commanding officer of No. 23 Squadron in 2008, commander No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in 2009 and station commander RAF Waddington in 2011.^[1]

Gillespie went on to become UK Air Component Commander at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Air Officer Commanding No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group in 2013, the Battlespace Management Force Commander in 2015 and Head of the Air Transformation Programme in 2017.^[1] He was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 2 Group in September 2019, and subsequently as Director of the Military Aviation Authority in December 2021.^[2]

He succeeded Steve Shell as Director General of the Defence Safety Authority and was promoted to air marshal in November 2024.^[3]

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2018 New Year Honours.^[4]