The sky’s the limit
The new Air Commander, Air Vice-Marshal John Quaife, talks to Michael Brooke about his vision for the future Air Force.

By Andrew Stackpool

Air Vice-Marshal John Quaife settles into his new job as Air Commander Australia.

Photo by Phil Barling

AIR Vice-Marshal John Quaife knows all about the hard work and sacrifices involved in shouldering great responsibility.

After almost three decades of shouldering responsibilities unique to the Air Force as a continually evolving organisation, Air Vice-Marshal Quaife has been appointed Air Commander Australia (ACAUST). By virtue of this appointment, he is also the Air Component Commander of Headquarters Joint Operations Command.

In his first interview since his appointment as ACAUST in June, Air Vice-Marshal Quaife said it was hard at times not to be over-awed by the responsibilities of his new position, but he knew he was well supported by skilled Air Force personnel.

“The great responsibility of running the operational capability of the Air Force is eased by the fantastic ability of all Air Force personnel,” he said.

“It is a real privilege to be the Air Commander, because you get an understanding of the power of the Air Force as an organisation, and of the power and capability of our people.”

Air Vice-Marshal Quaife said his greatest challenge would be establishing the right balance between the opportunities facing the Air Force, and the available time and resources.

“The challenge is finding the right opportunities to pursue, such that we use our budget and the skills of our people to maximum effect,” he said.

The Air Commander said his focus on operational preparedness demanded a focus on the people of the ADF.

“The goal of operational preparedness is a pretty easy one to identify because operational capability is what we all strive for in the Air Force.”

Air Vice-Marshal Quaife said he wanted to empower people in the Air Force, as that was the key to the organisation’s war winning capability.

“The power of an organisation cannot be fully realised unless you empower people and allow them to be the best that they can be,” he said.

“Possibly the most important aspect to achieve this is by being prepared to listen to your people, because they will quickly tell you how to improve processes or procedures.”

Air Vice Marshal Quaife said the talent and ability of Air Force personnel meant there was probably no job too big for the Air Force.

“My main responsibility as Air Commander is delivering operational capability, and as the Air Force demonstrated during Operation Sumatra Assist recently, there is almost no job that its personnel and equipment cannot do when circumstances demand,” he said.

Air Vice-Marshal Quaife said the Air Force was ready to shoulder the burden of more challenging operations because it was an organisation gifted with exceptionally good teamwork.

“We have a good team of leaders throughout the Air Force and by this I mean not just the senior officers but also our senior airmen, middle ranking NCOs and other ranks,” he said.

“Good teamwork at all levels is what will deliver us the confidence to fight and to win, and increasingly we are leveraging off what technology delivers to us to really empower our teams.

“Being able to use networking techniques and smart communication delivers us a very powerful advantage.

“We should be identifying what technology will enable us to work together more effectively and remember that it’s all about people and teamwork-enabled technology.”

He attributes the majority of his success and achievements to the skill and talent of fellow Air Force personnel.

Apart from his outstanding flying career, which included command of No. 77 Squadron, Air Vice-Marshal Quaife rates his main achievement to date as the successful implementation of Air Combat Group.

“I had the opportunity to set the groundwork for how Air Combat Group came together, as well as the privilege to be the first Commander of the Group.”

Between 1992 and 1994, Air Vice-Marshal Quaife served as a fast jet specialist officer in the Force Development Directorate of the Australian Defence Headquarters.

In 1999, he returned to that headquarters as the Director of Aerospace Combat Development.

During his tenure as Commander of Air Combat Group, Air Vice-Marshal Quaife commanded the air component forces established to provide air defence for Australian airspace under Operations Guardian and Miata, and Air Combat Group units deployed for Operations Slipper and Falconer.

In January 2004, Air Vice-Marshal Quaife was appointed the Air Force’s first permanent Joint Force Air Component Commander. In this appointment he was responsible for developing Air Operations Centre functionality within the Australian theatre air component.

From December 2004 to April 2005, Air Vice-Marshal Quaife served as the Director of the US Central Command Air Forces Combined Air Operations Centre. In this role he was responsible for orchestrating the application of Coalition air power in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Drummed into the Service

TWENTY-five years ago Air Vice-Marshal John Quaife was a drummer in a rock band. He turned his back on a quest for stardom to follow his ambition to be an Air Force pilot.

“I was dreaming of being a rock star, not a fighter pilot or the Air Commander,” Air Vice-Marshal Quaife said, explaining that he had sacrificed his dream of being a rock star when he saw an Air Force recruitment advertisement that revived his urge to join the RAAF.

He acknowledged that he had achieved success despite a late start to his Air Force career, a feat he hoped would encourage other Air Force and ADF personnel.

Air Vice-Marshal Quaife is a man who is remarkably relaxed given the pressures he is under in his role as Air Commander. The former F/A-18 Hornet pilot said he still loved to fly, but loathed mindless bureaucracy.

“Such is my passion for flying that I fly a single-engine Robin 2160 with the RAAF [Base] Williamtown Flying Club on weekends.

“I loathe brainless bureaucracy because there’s nothing that gets me more fired up than encountering bureaucratic process applied for no good reason.”

A devoted family man, Air Vice-Marshal Quaife still enjoyed music and all codes of footy.

“I’m a former drummer so I like any music with good drumming,” he said.

“I’ve volunteered to be the patron of Air Force Rugby Union, but I also support Carlton in the AFL and the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.”

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Capability in practice

Lieutenant Simone Heyer catches up with Air Vice-Marshal John Quaife during Exercise Kakadu to talk about his first two months as Air Commander.

ONLY two months in the job and Air Commander Australia Air Vice-Marshal John Quaife has already completed the first leg of his Force Element Group tour.

Over five days at the end of July, the Air Commander visited units at RAAF Base Darwin, Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth, in Malaysia, and RAAF Base Curtin.

In early August he visited RAAF Base Scherger during Exercise Kakadu.

While in Darwin, Air Vice Marshal Quaife said exercises like Kakadu had shaped his leadership.

“Strongest memories of exercises like this are the sheer pleasure of flying in the Northern Territory.
“It’s a brilliant flying environment.”

He said that an exercise the size of Ex Kakadu took units to the next level of training and preparedness.

“Personnel should take the opportunity to learn and test themselves – take the training by both hands.

“It’s important to bring the various capabilities of the Air Force together. A major exercise like this is a culminating event, exercising all components of the Air Force.”

He said training during Ex Kakadu and during the lead-up period was anything but routine.

“The opportunity to take our basic skills to the next level is ideal,” he said.

Air Vice-Marshal Quaife said combined exercises like Ex Kakadu also ensured ongoing education with coalition forces.
“Some of our allies have never met an Australian. We need to demonstrate how brilliant we are across the board.”

And brilliance is something the Air Commander has come to expect from Air Force personnel.

“I have enormous respect for all the people involved in Op Sumatra Assist.

“The enormity of the task of those people has been well recognised by the Australian public.

“It concerns me that there is a lack of recognition for the huge number of people who contributed to this operation, but didn’t deploy. People who worked long hours – you can’t take anything away from the people who deployed, but
I sit back and think ‘I’m proud of the Air Force and their work on this operation’.”

Air Vice-Marshal Quaife said operational outcomes were of great importance to him. He said Air Force must have the preparedness to go and do whatever it was called on to do.

“The way to play and win is through teamwork. We need to respect all of our people and what they bring to the equation.”

 

 

 

 

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