Air Marshal Julian Young was appointed Chief of Materiel (Air) within DE&S in April 2016. In this role he leads an organization of some 1,600 military and civilian staff with the responsibility of spending an annual budget of around £4Bn on equipping and supporting all of the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD’s) fixed-wing aircraft. He also is the focal point of contact within DE&S for the Royal Air Force (RAF), is a Member of the Air Force Board and Chief Engineer (RAF). He also has a MOD-wide role as the Defence Engineering Champion.Previously, he was DE&S’s Director Helicopters for some 16 months, where he was responsible for equipping and supporting Defence’s rotorcraft. Prior to that he was DE&S’s Technical Director and Chief Information Officer. He was also the MOD’s first Defence Authority for Technical & Quality Assurance. Before this spell in DE&S, he was triple-hatted at HQ Air Command as Executive Officer, Chief Engineer and Chief of Staff Support for 2 years. In 2010 he worked with PwC and EADS for 6 months through the Defence Career Partnering Scheme. On promotion to 2-star rank in August 2009, he was appointed as Director Defence Support Review with responsibility for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of Defence Support; many of the ideas generated - including ‘Total Support Force’ - have been implemented. He was Assistant Chief of Staff A4 (Logistics & Operational Engineering) at HQ Air Command from February 2007 onwards. He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies 2006 Course. For the previous 2½ years he was engaged in change, leading the Air Team in the implementation of the Logistics End-to-End Review’s recommendations, including Forward & Depth organizations and Lean techniques to the wider Air Force, and then as Programme Director of the Defence Logistics Transformation Programme. He is an Engineer Officer and early operational tours were on Support Helicopter squadrons, including Operation GRANBY (Gulf War I) and detachments to the Falklands. Later tours focused on Harrier GR7/T10 aircraft, both in the Project Team and operationally. He also has been the RAF lead for Engineering, Safety and Quality Policy and, as the Engineering Trade & Engineer Branch Sponsor, authored the RAF Multi-Skilling, tri-Service Aircraft Trade Convergence papers and the 2009 RAF Engineer Branch Strategy. He served as Station Commander at RAF Cosford in 2002-03, and was awarded his CB in 2013 for work related to RAF organizational change and OBE in 2000 for work related to Harrier support.Air Marshal Young is married to Helen - a health visitor - and they have 3 adult children. His interests include impressionist art, military history and Radio 4. He is also a keen supporter of Peterborough United Football Club. Plus, he is a Governor of the City of Bath College; a member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology’s Membership & Professional Development Board; President of the Minerva Society, the RAF Microlight Flying Association and the Abbey Wood Field Gun Crew; and Director of RAF Active magazine.
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