Given Air Marshal Geoff Brown hasn't let his recent appointment as Chief of Air Force clip his wings, today's announcement he has been made an Officer in the Military Division of the Order of Australia will likely have him flying high.
The former F-111 pilot, whose last public appearance in a fighter bomber was at the helm of a Super Hornet last October, is one of three senior members of the ADF to be honoured in this way.
Others include Major General Michael Slater for leading Defence personnel after the 2011 Queensland floods and Lieutenant General Ash Power for training the ADF's senior leadership and ADF personnel.
Major General Tim McOwan has also been recognised for his work as special operations commander, Australia. He is based in Washington as Australia's defence attache.
Nine senior ADF officers have been made Members of the Military Division of the Order of Australia and nine Medals of the Military Division of the Order of Australia have been awarded.
A total of 18 Conspicuous Service Crosses and 22 Conspicuous Service Medals have also been announced.
Air Marshal Brown, who was appointed Chief of Air Force last July, grew up in Toowoomba and learnt to fly in a glider over the Darling Downs. He recently said his encounters with former military pilots from the war had inspired him to join the RAAF.
Now in his 32nd year in the air force, he has come to the top job at a crucial time for Australia's future military aviation capability.
In addition to the controversial JSF program, big decisions are being made in regard to air-to-air refuelling tankers, the long-overdue replacement for the now-retired Caribou short-strip transport fleet, helicopters and the integration of more and more giant C-17 Globemasters into the aerial transport fleet.
A fighter pilot at heart, despite starting his RAAF career as an engineer-turned-helicopter pilot in 1980, Air Marshal Brown was a member of the Roulettes aerobatic team from 1987 to 1989.
He was likely to have kept a close eye on how the new generation of Roulettes, who have swapped Macchi jets for Pilatus PC-9 trainers, performed over Canberra yesterday.
Air Marshal Brown, who is known around Russell for his love of Holden V8s, led the last Roulettes team to fly the Macchis. Other past rides have included the F/A-18 classic and Super Hornets.
He commanded all F/A-18 and C-130 (Hercules) flight operations over Iraq during the second Gulf War in 2003.
Air Marshal Brown still enjoys gliding and has a keen interest in motor sports.
He is married with two sons. He has clocked up more than 5000 hours in military aircraft.
.gif)
