Nigel Colman (RAF officer)

Colman was commissioned into the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 20 June 1991.^[1] As officer commanding No. 78 Squadron he saw action in Iraq and then in Afghanistan.^[2] He became station commander at RAF Benson as well as Puma and Merlin force commander in October 2012.^[3] He saw the Merlins leave the force in October 2014.^[4]

Colman went on to be Deputy Director of Military Support in July 2015, followed by a move to become the Head of Military Strategic Effects at the Ministry of Defence in April 2018 and Commander of Joint Helicopter Command in March 2020.^[5] He stepped down from this position in March 2023,^[5] and retired from the RAF at his own request in August 2023.^[6]

Colman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours,^[7] and Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2024 New Year Honours.^[8]