Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force
| Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Chief of the Air Force Staff | |
|---|---|
 Royal Canadian Air Force
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| Type | Commissioned Officer |
| Status | Currently constituted |
| Abbreviation | CRCAF |
| Reports to | Chief of the Defence Staff |
| Deputy | Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division |
The Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force (French: commandant de l'Aviation royale canadienne) is the institutional head of the Royal Canadian Air Force. This appointment also includes the title Chief of the Air Force Staff and is based at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario. The post was previously known as the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) (French: Chef d’état-major de la Force aérienne or CEMFA).
With the creation of the Canadian Aviation Corps in 1914, a provisional commander was appointed. This small and short-lived organization was dissolved in 1915 and it was not until 1918 that the Canadian Air Force came into being under the authority of its Officer Commanding. The Canadian Air Force was reconstituted in 1920 and the officer in command (Air Commodore Tylee) held the title of Air Officer Commanding. It was also from 1920 to 1922 that Air Vice-Marshal Sir Willoughby Gwatkin served as Inspector-General of the Canadian Air Force although formally command was held by Tylee. Tylee's successors, not being air officers, only held the title of Officer Commanding. In 1922, the senior Air Force post was redesignated as the Director and in 1924, when the Canadian Air Force was granted its Royal prefix, the officer appointed to command the Air Force continued to hold the title of Director. From 1932 to 1938 the title of Senior Air Officer was used. In late 1938, the Air Force became an independent service and its professional head was retitled Chief of the Air Staff, bringing the Canadian higher command arrangements and nomenclature into line with that of the British and Australian air forces. The title of Chief of the Air Staff was used throughout World War II and well into the Cold War years. However, in 1964, the post was abolished as part of a plan to integrate the Canadian Forces and authority over aviation units was no longer vested in a single post. This arrangement was eventually judged to be impractical and in 1975 the air units of the Canadian Forces were placed within Air Command under the authority of a lieutenant-general with the title Commander of Air Command. In 1997 the Commander of Air Command was re-designated the Chief of the Air Staff, a title which continued in use until 2011. In 2011 Air Command was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force at which time the appointment was renamed to its present incarnation.
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