Air Marshal Robert Leckie, was an air officer in the Royal Air Force and later in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and served as Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1944 to 1947. He initially served in the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War, where he became known as one of "the Zeppelin killers from Canada", after shooting down two airships. During the inter-war period he served as a Royal Air Force squadron and station commander, eventually becoming the RAF's Director of Training in 1935, and was Air Officer Commanding RAF Mediterranean from 1938 until after the beginning of the Second World War. In 1940 he returned to Canada where he was primarily responsible for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, transferring to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942.

The Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force is the institutional head of the Royal Canadian Air Force. This appointment also includes the title Chief of the Air Force Staff and is based at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario.