Sir Baz has been President of the Association since May 2017. He retired from the RAF in 2016 having served for 34 years.

Sir Baz joined the RAF in 1982, where he served as a helicopter pilot, taking part in operational flying tours in Northern Ireland on the Wessex and across the globe on both the Chinook and Puma.

In his first 15 years in the RAF, Sir Baz commanded 78 Squadron in the Falkland Islands, the SF unit on 7 Squadron for five years and 33 Squadron as well as staff tours as the ADC to the Chief of Defence Staff, PSO to AOC 1 Group and attended the last Army Command and Staff Course.

Following tours as the Commander of the Joint Helicopter Force in Northern Ireland and as AOC 83 Expeditionary Air Group, Sir Baz held the posts of Head of Air Resources and Plans and AOC 22 Training Group before becoming the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff. His last tour was as the Air Member for Personnel and Capability.

As well as his role at Loughborough University, Jamie is a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist with over 25 years of applied experience working in professional and elite sport, business, military and veteran contexts. He is also a Practitioner Psychologist.

Jamie has an international and world-leading research profile with research interests in stress, group dynamics, wellbeing and mental health.

Dan’s research focuses on the interface between physical and mental health using digital technology, secondary data linkage and AI.

Dan has a specific interest in military mental health. He holds grants from the Forces in Mind Trust, National Institute of Health Research, UK Medical Research Council and UK Cabinet Office.

Lt Col Amos Simms ARRC is a serving officer in the British Army and works within the Defence Medical Services’ Department of Research and Clinical Innovation.

As the Head of the Academic Department of Military Mental Health, his responsibility is to both undertake novel research and to monitor and evaluate global mental health research to ensure the UK Armed Forces employs evidence based mental health strategies, both in the preparation of personnel and in their medical treatment.

Marc’s work is focused on understanding human adaptation and functioning in stressful environments. He has an extensive portfolio of research and consultancy projects across organisational, military, healthcare, sport and extreme environments.

He has over 100 publications with over 10,000 citations and has given several keynote talks at academic conferences on stress and resilience, including the British Psychological Society’s Defence and Security Conference. He has also spoken at several prestigious public engagement events, including the British Science Festival and Cheltenham Science Festival.

In his role at the RRCB, Danny leads the delivery of Adventurous Training, which is completed by over 1,500 military personnel every year. This training is designed to enhance operational effectiveness by developing resilience, leadership, and team cohesion in challenging environments.

Danny joined the RAF in 2006 as a Physical Training Instructor, later specialising as an Adventurous Training Instructor in 2011. His postings have taken him across the UK and overseas where he has supported the development of both trainee fast jet pilots and fully qualified personnel, focusing on physical and psychological performance.

In 2018, Danny took a break from service to travel and launch his own strength and conditioning business. He rejoined the RAF in 2020 as a Personnel Training Officer and was posted to RAF Waddington as Station Training Officer, where he held a command role for 18 months. He then transitioned to the Resilience Wing, serving as 2IC at RRC St Mawgan before moving into his current role at RRCB, where he combines his instructional expertise with his leadership experience.

Paul is responsible for delivering the RAF Strategy through people, equipment, digital, training, infrastructure and support to ensure the Service can deliver air and space power for the nation and project power and influence around the world.

Paul joined the RAF in September 1991, after studying Mechanical Engineering at Manchester University. Following specialist Engineer Officer training, he worked on Hercules C-130s and the Tornado GR1/4 aircraft at RAF Brüggen, TTTE RAF Cottesmore and 14 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth, which included overseas exercises and several detachments to the Gulf.

In 2016, he was promoted to Air Commodore, and he took up the post of Head Typhoon Delivery Team in DE&S, where he was responsible for the capability development and in-Service support of Typhoon and the Battle of Britain aircraft.

In 2021, he was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal as Director Support and the Chief Engineer of the RAF, also leading on the development of Defence’s Aviation NetZero strategy. In September 2023 he was appointed Air Marshal and took over his current role as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.

Rory joined the RAF Association in May 2013 as the Director of Welfare & Wellbeing. Prior to this, Rory worked with SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, where he was responsible for all contracted SSAFA health and social care services in Cyprus. He also managed the SSAFA volunteer teams. 

Prior to Cyprus, Rory managed primary and community healthcare services in British Forces in Germany. He has a wealth of experience within the health and social care sector. Rory resigned from the Royal Navy in 2004 having undertaken several tri-service postings and spending much of his service career attached to the Royal Marines.   

Laura joined the RAF Association in 2021 and is an experienced mixed-method researcher, adept at designing, managing, and delivering large-scale research and evaluation projects. With over 20 years in the research, data and insight sector, Laura has a strong track record in impact measurement and is passionate about using evidence and insight to drive positive social change and improve lives.

In her current role, Laura leads on embedding a culture of evidence-based decision-making and has successfully implemented a new impact measurement framework to underpin strategic objectives.  aura works collaboratively across the Association, offering expert advice on impact monitoring and data quality to influence organisational thinking.

Beyond internal collaboration, Laura builds strong relationships with academic and sector partners to advance the organisation’s evidence base and raise its profile within the military community. She also leads the Research Advisory Group, convening leading experts quarterly to explore areas of mutual interest and drive innovation.

Hannah was appointed Director of Strategy and Impact in October 2023, following her tenure as Associate Director, where she played a pivotal role in embedding a culture of evidence-based decision-making across the Fund.

With a background in research, data, computer science and experience in academia, Hannah brings a rigorous, analytical approach to strategic leadership, ensuring that insight, evidence, evaluation, and impact measurement sit at the heart of organisational strategy. She was instrumental in establishing the Fund’s research and evaluation function, enabling the charity to clearly demonstrate the tangible difference it makes to the RAF Family.

Hannah leads the Fund’s research, business intelligence, impact and evaluation, and strategic planning functions, using data and insight to inform decision-making and guide organisational direction. In her role as Director, she drives innovation and ensures the Fund remains relevant, effective, and responsive to the evolving needs of the RAF community.

Before joining the Fund, Hannah built a strong career in academia, conducting research and teaching in the fields of computer science, data analytics and human geography. Hannah holds a PhD in Computer Science and a Master’s in Environmental Informatics, both from the University of Leicester.

Simon joined the RAF in November 1988, having served over two years in the Royal Navy. Commissioned as a Personnel Officer, Simon has undertaken a range of HR roles across several locations in the UK and deployed in Afghanistan. He is a former Trustee of the RAF Benevolent Fund and the RAF Sports Federation.

In 2012, Simon assumed command of RAF Halton and graduated from the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2015, having co-authored a paper, The Military Instrument in the 21stCentury, which was published as part of the Churchill 21st Century Leadership Programme.

He was promoted to Air Commodore in 2016 and completed appointments as the lead for HR policy and, latterly, RAF ground training policy and strategy. On leaving the RAF, Simon assumed the volunteer reserve position as Regional Air Officer for the South-East of England.

Kehksha brings a wealth of experience in applying psychological principles within NHS services and employee wellbeing, underpinned by a strong academic background in occupational psychology.

Her current role focuses on using occupational psychology to enhance the lives of Service personnel and their families. Her team achieves this through the delivery of Continuous Attitude Surveys for the RAF, alongside bespoke projects addressing key areas such as flexible working, organisational culture, wellbeing, retention and leadership.

Amy’s expertise lies in seldom-heard populations, health interventions and mixed methods research.

Since joining the Northern Hub in 2020, Amy has worked on a range of projects, focusing on loneliness and social isolation experienced by military widows, food insecurity in the Armed Forces and the MONARCH platform.

Vanessa joined the RAF Families Federation as Policy Manager following a 22-year career in the RAF. During her time in Service, she fulfilled a broad range of personnel-related roles, including Policy, Infrastructure Management, Human Resources, Recruitment, Accounts Management and Media Operations, at both UK and Overseas locations.

Since being in post with the RAF Families Federation, as well as supporting individual cases, Vanessa and the team have advocated for changes of policies that effect RAF personnel and their families. The most recent was the MOD acknowledgement of the impact of the increased CEA fees following the decision to include VAT on Private School fees.

Wendy joined the RAF Families Federation in January 2023, taking up the newly created role of Evidence Officer. She had previously served as a HR specialist in the Regular RAF for 22 years, and a further six years as a Reservist.

Throughout her service, Wendy has undertaken several customer-focused roles, both in the UK and overseas. She also served in Kuwait and Iraq during the 2003 Gulf conflict.

In her role as Evidence Officer, Wendy draws together information gathered from a variety of reports and surveys, and where necessary, initiating the Federation’s own research, to identify areas where the Federation can advocate for change.