Air Commodore Anthony Bull

Air Commodore Tony Bull was born in the United Kingdom. He commissioned into the UK Royal Air Force in November 1988 and graduated from Bristol Medical School in 1990. He completed pilot training on C-130K Hercules and posted to No. 47 Squadron at RAF Lyneham, where he gained operational experience in the Balkans and the Middle East.

In January 2001, he joined No. 70 Squadron as a Flight Commander with further operational missions to Sierra Leone, Kuwait City, Thumrait, Karachi and Kabul.

Following a tour within Personnel and Training Command, he was promoted to Wing Commander and attended the Advanced Command and Staff College, graduating in July 2006 with a King’s College London Masters in Defence Studies. Thereafter he deployed to NATO Headquarters Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, commanding the Joint Intelligence Operations Centre pursuing war criminals.

In June 2007, he was appointed Commanding Officer No. 70 Flying Squadron during expeditionary operations in Basra, Kandahar and Al Udeid. Thereafter he joined the Air Staff in the UK Ministry of Defence during the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review and the Arab Spring uprising.

In 2011, he was seconded to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and was posted to Canberra as the United Kingdom Air and Military Adviser at the British High Commission with non-residential accreditation to Papua New Guinea.

In 2015, he transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Posted initially to Force Design Division, he joined the First Principles Review team responsible for developing Defence’s Capability Life Cycle.

In January 2018, he joined the Air Operations Centre at Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC) (A53) as the Lead Air Planner for APEC 18 ASSIST and OP OKRA.

Promoted to Group Captain on 1 August 2018, he was appointed Director Capability and Transitions in Headquarters Air Mobility Group. In his role, he was responsible for overseeing Falcon 7X, Government Transport Communications KC-30 and C-27J Spartan aircraft transitions into service. In January 2020, he was subsequently appointed Officer Commanding No. 86 Wing with command responsibility for 34SQN (VIP), 36SQN (C17 heavy airlift) and 33SQN (air-to-air refuelling).

In August 2021, he was appointed Commander Air Task Group 630 for the Afghan Non-combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) during the evacuation of Kabul. In January 2022, he was appointed Director Strategic Risks and Futures in Military Strategic Branch where he led the development of the Defence’s Net Assessment process in accordance with a Defence Strategic Review recommendation.

In January 2024, he joined Cadet Branch – Air Force and jointly developed the Australian Air Force Cadet Strategic Plan 2030.

In December 2025, he was promoted to Air Commodore and appointed Director General Air Force Cadets.