Johnny Stringer (RAF officer)
Air Marshal Sir John Jackson Stringer, KCB, CBE (born November 1969) is a senior Royal Air Force officer. Since August 2022 he has served as Deputy Commander of Allied Air Command.
Born in Sale, Cheshire, England, Stringer attended Watford Grammar School for Boys and studied at New College, Oxford. He holds master’s degrees from Oxford and King’s College London and has completed the UK Advanced and Higher Command and Staff Courses and the Royal College of Defence Studies.
He was commissioned into the RAF in 1993. After officer and pilot training, he joined the Jaguar Force at RAF Coltishall. A Qualified Weapon Instructor, he flew missions over Yugoslavia and helped enforce the Northern Iraq No-Fly Zone.
Key command roles include:
- 2007–2009: Air Officer Commanding No. 29 Squadron RAF, RAF Coningsby.
- Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff (DACOS) Joint Effects in the J3 Division at Permanent Joint Headquarters, Northwood.
- 2012–2014: Commander of RAF Coningsby and its Typhoon Wing.
- 2015: Assistant Chief of Staff Operations at HQ Air Command.
- 2016–2017: Commander of No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group as UK Air Component Commander during Operation Shader.
In 2018 he was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal and served as Chief of Staff at Joint Forces Command and then Director of Strategy as JFC evolved into UK Strategic Command, overseeing the 2021 Defence and Security Integrated Review.
Promotions and honours continue: promoted to Air Marshal in August 2022 and appointed Deputy Commander of Allied Air Command. He was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2025 Birthday Honours. In January 2026 it was announced that he would be promoted to Air Chief Marshal and take up the post of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe in March 2026.
Personal life: He is married to Lisa and has two sons. His interests include history, art and literature, food and drink, and road cycling. He is President of the Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association and has more than 3,000 flying hours, mainly on single-seat combat aircraft.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:32 (CET).