David Murray (RAF officer)

The son of Baron Murray of Epping Forest,[1] the former TUC General Secretary Len Murray, Murray was commissioned into the Royal Air Force on 27 March 1980 in the rank of acting pilot officer.[2] He was promoted to pilot officer on 27 September,[3] and to flying officer on 5 July 1982.[4] Murray served as station commander RAF Halton and then at Worthy Down before becoming garrison commander at Winchester and then commandant of the Defence College of Police and Personnel Administration. Murray served on operational tours in the Falkland Islands, on UN peace-keeping duties in Bosnia and Sierra Leone. He also served in Africa, Australia, Cyprus and Germany.[5] He became assistant chief of staff training in the RAF in 2006[6] and head of Ministry of Defence Personnel Strategy and Programmes in 2009 before he was promoted to air vice marshal in 2010 and appointed as Defence Services Secretary and Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Personnel).[7] Murray led the Diamond Jubilee Armed Forces Parade and Muster in 2012.[8]

Having been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1996 New Year Honours and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1999 Birthday Honours,[9] Murray was invested as a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) for his services as Defence Services Secretary in October 2012.[10] He officially retired from the Royal Air Force on 21 January 2013.[11]

In October 2012, Murray became chief executive of national Armed Forces charity SSAFA.[12]

As chief executive of SSAFA, Murray led an organisation with an annual turnover of more than £55m, 900 paid staff (mainly medical professionals and social workers) and over 7500 volunteers, providing practical support and assistance to more than 50,000 people each year, from D-Day veterans to young soldiers wounded in Afghanistan.[13]

In September 2016, Murray was appointed controller/chief executive of the RAF Benevolent Fund. Founded in 1919, the RAF Benevolent Fund is the RAF's leading welfare charity supporting serving and former members of the RAF as well as their families. Annually, the charity spends over £18m supporting more than 41,000 members of the RAF family.[14]