Register here to join our In Conversation Live with Air Vice-Marshal Simon Edwards
Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) Simon S. Edwards, Senior Officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and currently Assistant Chief of the Air Staff will be joining Professor Roger Kirby, RSM President, for a conversation about his RAF career, what inspired him to join and the places his posts have taken him. Simon will also be talking about his experiences of aeromedical evacuations as a C-17 Globemaster pilot, how the RAF and wider Defence have supported the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic under Operation Rescript, and why it is important for the RAF to engage with the public.
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Simon joined the RAF in 1990 through a Sixth Form Scholarship scheme. He is an Air Transport pilot, initially flying the C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster, a large military transport aircraft designed to perform tactical and strategic airlift missions, transporting troops and cargo throughout the world. He was also a Qualified Flying Instructor on the Shorts Tucano. Simon commanded the RAF’s C-17 Squadron from 2008 until 2010, led Number 904 Expeditionary Air Wing at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan in 2011, and was the Station Commander for RAF Brize Norton from 2014 until 2017, home to Air Mobility operations and military parachuting; he gained his parachutist’s wings in 2016. Simons’ staff tours in between have been focused in the Joint and Capability areas at both Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Air Command.
Graduating from the Royal College of Defence Studies in the summer of 2017, Simon worked briefly in the Cabinet Office as a policy adviser in the National Security Secretariat. He completed the Higher Command and Staff Course before taking on the role of Assistant Chief of Staff for Capability Delivery at Headquarters Air Command. In that role, he completed the Major Projects Leadership Academy for high-risk, high-value government projects and was the Senior Responsible Owner for a wide portfolio, including the A400M Tactical Airlifter and the United Kingdom Military Flying Training System (MFTS).
He was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) in May 2021, Simon has returned to the MoD as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Strategy).
Simon is married with two grown-up sons. He is an Assistant to the Court of the Worshipful Company of Coopers in the City of London and occupies his spare time with DIY at home, or preventing his ageing riverboat from succumbing to the River Thames.
*There may be slight changes to the advertised start and end times of this webinar, subject to Simon's work requirements.
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Disclaimer: All views expressed in this webinar are of the speakers themselves and not of the RSM.
The In Conversation Live webinar series will continue our much loved In Conversation events, giving you the opportunity to get first-hand insights into the lives and thoughts of high profile individuals, bringing an intimate, relaxed and entertaining perspective into your living room.
The RSM In Conversation Live series form part of our new philanthropic initiative. All donations from this series directly fund the RSM's vision to advance health through education and innovation.
This webinar will be recorded and stored by the Royal Society of Medicine and may be distributed in future on various internet channels.
