fly2help - Lifting Horizons
Donate Now

The Team

Patrons - Air Chf Mshl Sir Glenn Torpy
               Sqn Ldr Geoffrey Wellum DFC
               Mandy Shepherd
Trustees - Colin Green - Chairman
                Gp Capt Willie Cruickshank
                Charlie Mondahl , Mike Nixon
                Phill O'Dell , David Sproxton
Chief Executive Officer - Chris Hadlow
Charity Manager - Sue Bennett
Air Smiles Managers - Dawn Hadlow
                                 Jonathan Margetts
                                 Helen Tempest
Friends of fly2help - Read their profiles
   

Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy
GCB CBE DSO ADC BSc(Eng) FRAeS FCGI RAF

Sir Glenn TorpyAir Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy was born in 1953 and joined the Royal Air Force in 1974 after achieving a First in Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College, London. He completed two tours flying the Jaguar in the reconnaissance and attack roles, a tour as a Qualified Weapons Instructor on the Hawk, and commanded a Tornado GR1A tactical reconnaissance squadron.

He graduated from the Royal Air Force Staff College in 1987 and saw active service with No 13 Squadron flying Tornados during the Gulf War, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in the Gulf Honours List. Subsequently, he filled a staff appointment in the Ministry of Defence before moving to be Personal Staff Officer to the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Strike Command.

In 1994 he assumed command of Royal Air Force Bruggen in Germany, which at the time was the largest Tornado base in the Royal Air Force, before graduating from the Royal College of Defence Studies in December 1997 and then completing the Higher Command and Staff Course in April 1998. Air Chief Marshal Torpy was Assistant Chief of Staff J3 (Operations) in the Permanent Joint Headquarters during Operation DESERT FOX in Irag and Operation ALLIED FORCE, the NATO intervention operation in Kosovo, for which he was made a Commander of the British Empire.

He spent a short time as Director of Air Operations in the Ministry of Defence before taking over as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations). He became Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group in March 2001. During his time at No 1 Group he commanded the 22,000 British Forces participating in Exercise SAIF SAREEA II in Oman, and in 2003 was the UK Air Contingent Commander for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, for which he was awarded the US Legion of Merit for his part in the Coalition operation. He was Deputy Commander-in-Chief Strike Command for one year from July 2003 before being appointed Chief of Joint Operations at Permanent Joint Headquarters on 26 July 2004, where he was responsible for all the United Kingdom's overseas operations, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Air Chief Marshal Torpy became Chief of the Air Staff on 13 April 2006. He was made a Knight Commander of the Bath in January 2005 and a Grand Knight Commander in June 2008. During his flying career Sir Glenn has amassed some 4300 hours of fast-jet flying, predominately on Jaguar, Hawk and Tornado, but also on Typhoon. He retired from the Royal Air Force in July 2009.

For relaxation Sir Glenn enjoys playing golf, gardening, cabinet making and reading about military history. He is a Fellow and Council member of both the Royal Aeronautical Society and the City and Guilds Institute, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers and a Governor of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School.

Turning Ordinary Days Into Extraordinary Adventures