Air Marshal Sir Dusty Miller joined the RAF in 1967 and initially completed a 2-year apprenticeship qualifying as an airframe fitter. He went on to become a pilot flying the Jet Provost, Hunter, Jaguar and Tornado. He held numerous staff appointments and attended advanced staff training at the Joint Services Defence College, Greenwich.
He served in operational command with NATO in Sarajevo, and later as the Air Component Commander for UK Forces in Afghanistan for which he was appointed CBE in 2002. He was promoted to air marshal and served as the Deputy Commander of NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Naples, and was knighted in 2007.
After a career spanning some 40 years he retired from the RAF in January 2008 and now holds a commission as a flight lieutenant in the RAFVR(T). He is a Director of the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire, and is the Branch President of the Cheltenham Royal Air Forces Association, Vice-Patron of the RAF Halton Apprentices Association, Honorary President of the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, Honorary President of the Gloucestershire Outward Bound Association, and Honorary President of 125 (Cheltenham) Squadron Air Training Corps. Finally, he is Patron of ‘fly2help’ based at Staverton, and is Patron and a volunteer skipper for ‘Turn to Starboard’, a sailing charity based in Falmouth supporting Armed Forces personnel affected by military operations. Most recently he has become a Patron for the Motivational Preparation College for Training.