Event Details

The annual Air Power Lecture, hosted by the Centre for War and Diplomacy and the Royal Air Force Museum, will be delivered by Air Commodore (Ret’d) Andrew Curtis OBE.

Air Commodore (Ret’d) Andrew Curtis is a defence and security academic, specialising in strategy, defence management, and military logistics. His research interests stem from his 35-year Royal Air Force career, from which he retired in 2019 in the rank of air commodore. His final appointment was programme director of the Defence Support Transformation Programme, the flagship transformation initiative of the MoD’s Modernising Defence Programme.

During his career, he gained considerable operational experience through a variety of appointments, including: commander support in the NATO Headquarters at Kandahar Airfield in 2011-12; chief of staff of the Joint Task Force Headquarters in Malta that conducted the Libya Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation in 2011; and commander of the UK military force that provided support following the Haiti earthquake of 2010.

Andrew is a regular contributor to defence commentary and debate, and author of two books: Understanding UK Military Capability (2022) and We need to talk about Defence (2024). He was appointed as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2007, is a Chartered Manager and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, and has a PhD in defence studies from King’s College London.