Air Marshal Robert Timothy Chipman, is a senior officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) who serves as Chief of Air Force since July 2022. He joined the RAAF as an aeronautical engineer in 1989 and gained his pilot's wings in 1994. He has commanded No. 75 Squadron RAAF (2006–09), the Air and Space Operations Centre (2010–12), No. 81 Wing RAAF (2013–14) and Air Task Unit 630.1 (2014), and deployed to the Middle East on Operations Slipper and Okra. He served as the Australian Military Representative to NATO and the European Union from 2019 to 2021 and Head Military Strategic Commitments from 2021 to 2022. He succeeded Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld as Chief of Air Force on 1 July 2022. Chipman will be appointed Vice Chief of the Defence Force in July 2024.
Air Marshal Chipman in 2023
Chief of Air Force (Australia)
Chief of Air Force (CAF) is the most senior appointment in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), responsible to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) and the Secretary of the Department of Defence. The rank associated with the position is air marshal (three-star). The role encompasses "the delivery of aerospace capability, enhancing the Air Force's reputation and positioning the Air Force for the future". It does not include direction of air operations, which is the purview of the Air Commander Australia, a two-star position responsible directly to CDF in such circumstances but nominally reporting to CAF.
Chief of Air Force (Australia)
The inaugural Air Board, including Group Captain Stanley Goble (front row, left) and Air Commodore Richard Williams (front row, centre)
Recently appointed CAS Air Vice Marshal George Jones (left) with Air Vice Marshal William Bostock (centre) and outgoing CAS Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett in 1942
Air Marshal (later Air Chief Marshal) Sir Frederick Scherger