Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld has been named as the new Chief of Air Force, to take over from AIRMSHL Leo Davies in July.
AIRMSHL Hupfeld moves on from the Chief of Joint Operations role, which will be taken over by Major General Greg Bilton (upon promotion to Lieutenant General).
"Mel Hupfeld has been the Chief of the Joint Operations Command and has extensive leadership and operational experience through senior positions, including the Air Commander Australia and the Head Force Design," Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne said. "He will take up his role as Chief of the Air Force in July this year and I very much look forward to his service.
"Major General Bilton, soon to be Lieutenant General Bilton, has extensive experience and leadership in operations as the Deputy Chief of Joint Operations, as the Commander of the 7th Brigade and as the Deputy Commanding General of the United States Army in the Pacific."
AIRMSHL Leo Davies recently told ADM that he considers his greatest achievements as CAF to be 'opening RAAF's aperture to the art of the possible' and the arrival of Australia's first two F-35 Lightning IIs.
"I’d probably put my achievements into two categories. The first one is I’m really pleased and proud that I’ve been able to get Air Force to open the aperture to the art of the possible.
"There’s some wonderful folk out there in our Air Force. If our Air Force isn’t able to just open up the aperture a little bit, they’ll be restricted in what they can deliver. That’s really the essence of Plan Jericho and the Air Force Strategy.
"The second achievement is the arrival of our first two F-35s. So, on my watch we’ve continued to deliver the things that successive Chiefs have set in place. I haven’t messed it up to the point where something didn’t get delivered!"
"Leo Davies leaves the Air Force in very good nick and has established a record, a foundation, for the way that the Air Force will operate into the future," Minister Pyne said.