John Day (RAF officer)

Infobox Military Person
name= John Day
lived= born 1947
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=


caption= Air Chief Marshal Sir John Day
Crown Copyright
nickname=
allegiance=flag|United Kingdom
serviceyears= – 2003
rank= Air Chief Marshal
branch= air force|United Kingdom
commands= Strike Command
Personnel and Training Command
No. 1 Group
unit=
battles=
awards=Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
laterwork=
Air Chief Marshal Sir John Day KCB, OBE, ADC, B.Sc, RAF (born 1947) is a retired senior Royal Air Force commander and a military advisor to BAE Systems.

Early life and education

John Day was born in England in 1947, however during the first nine years of his life, he spent a considerable amount of time in north east India where his father worked as a Tea Planter. He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and at Imperial College London from where he graduated with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. During his time at Imperial, Day received an RAF sponsorship and he was a member of the London University Air Squadron.

RAF career

Following initial officer training and flying training, Day was posted to RAF Odiham flying the Wessex helicopter. He went on to command the Wessex Squadron in Northern Ireland and returned to Odiham as Station Commander.

Later in his career, Day was Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Commitments) and the Director of Operations for all the United Kingdom's operations (including the Kosovo campaign and operations over Iraq).

In 2000, Day was appointed Air Member for Personnel and Commander-in-Chief Personnel and Training Command. In 2001, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief Strike Command. He then retired from the Royal Air Force in 2003 and joined BAE Systems as their Senior Military Adviser.

BAE controversy

Day became a senior military adviser to BAE Systems in 2003. The independent watchdog monitoring the movement of officials to companies recommended that he should wait a year before taking up his new BAE job, due to his history as head of RAF Strike Command. The committee warned that Day "had been involved with Air Force Board decisions which would have a direct bearing on the MoD's business with BAE". [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/jun/08/bae1 BAE's lobbying] ] Controversially Tony Blair then personally overruled the watchdog, saying that it was "in the national interestcite news | first=Oonagh Gay | last= | coauthors= | title=Business Appointment Rules | date= | publisher= | url = www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-03745.pdf | work =House of Commons | pages = | accessdate = 2008-03-15 | language = ] " to let Day move to the firm. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/oct/05/saudiarabia.armstrade BAE chief linked to slush fund] ]

Chinook helicopter crash Board of Inquiry

In 1995, following the Chinook Helicopter Crash on the Mull of Kintyre, Day was the Reviewing Officer of the Board of Inquiry which had failed to find a cause of the accident. Despite a lack of Accident Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder, Day concluded that pilot error was the cause of the crash and found the pilots guilty of gross negligence [ [http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=213&id=789412002 Scotsman article] ] . Following a subsequent Scottish Fatal Accident Inquiry and House of Commons Public Accounts Committee report, a House of Lords Select Committee was appointed to consider all the circumstances surrounding the crash and unanimously concluded "that the reviewing officers were not justified in finding that negligence on the part of the pilots caused the aircraft to crash". [Report from the Select Committee on Chinook ZD 576 dated 31 Jan 02] However, as of January 2008 the MoD has refused to alter the verdicts.

References