Rear Admiral Simon Charlier. CBE. FRAeS – School House 71 – 76.

Educated at Dover College and joined the Royal Navy in 1978 at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.

His appointments, as a Midshipman were spent in Her Majesty’s Ships SIRIUS, BRINTON and BRISTOL. In 1979 he joined HMS STUBBINGTON assigned to Fishery protection duties followed by a further sea appointment in HMS APOLLO.

Awarded his pilot’s wings in 1983 he subsequently joined 829 Naval Air Squadron to fly the WASP and LYNX helicopters. His flying posts included serving as Flight Commander in HMS AJAX (the Falklands), HMS ROTHESAY, HMS GALATEA and finally, in 1986, HMS NEWCASTLE.

In 1989 he took command of HMS SHERATON deploying to the Mediterranean and Northern Europe followed by promotion to Lieutenant Commander to work in the Ministry of Defence for VCDS, Admiral Sir Benjamin Bathurst.

Rear Admiral Charlier returned to flying the Lynx helicopter in 1992, as Senior Pilot of 815 Squadron, at Royal Naval Air Station Portland, He was responsible for merging 829 Sqn with 815 Sqn to form the largest operational RW squadron in Europe.

During this period, he led the special forces element of the squadron engaged on a number of operational call outs.

After completing the Royal Naval Staff course at Greenwich in 1995, he took command of the Frigate HMS NORTHUMBERLAND, deploying to the South Atlantic, followed by 7 months in NATO’s Standing Naval Force Mediterranean.

After a short spell as a programmer on the HQ Staff of Flag Officer Naval Aviation, Rear Admiral Charlier returned to the Ministry of Defence when he joined the Directorate of Naval Plans and Programme in October 1998 managing Naval flying policy and the funded programme.

This was followed by a post as Assistant Director in the NATO and European Policy Group in May 2000 on promotion to Captain and was the MOD rep for HQ ARRC.

In 2002 Rear Admiral Charlier took command of HMS CORNWALL as Flag ship to NATO’s Standing Naval Force Atlantic with deployments to the Mediterranean, Baltic, Russia and the USA.

Following this period of Command, he returned to his flying roots in the post of Commodore Fleet Air Arm and Assistant Chief of Staff (Aviation) and Naval AOA in CINC Fleet headquarters in 2004.

This was followed by the position of Fleet ACOS (Resources & Plans) and Aide de Camp in November 2006. On promotion to Rear Admiral in February 2008. He became CINC Fleet’s Chief of Staff (Aviation & Carriers) and 2-star Naval AOA with operational command of all Air Stations and Squadrons,

He was appointed in April 2010 as the first Director (Operations) of the newly formed Military Aviation Authority, a post he held until December 2012.

He remains keenly involved in flying operations and keeps current as a military and civil light aircraft pilot.

Rear Admiral Simon Charlier is a Freeman of the City of London, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical society and a member of the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators. He is also President of RN Winter Sports, the Combined Services Equestrian Association and the RNRM Equestrian association, in 2016 Rear Admiral Simon Charlier became President of the old Dovorian Club until his 2-year appointment came to an end, he is currently a Vice President of the Old Dovorian Club