A FORMER fighter pilot has been named the new commandant at a top military college near Swindon.

Air Vice-Marshal Ray Lock, who was a Tornado pilot in Iraq as part of Operation Desert Storm, was given the post at the Joint Services Command and Staff College, in Shrivenham, as the RAF’s rotation for the position began last month.

He replaces Major General Graham Binns.

The college is a specialist training centre for senior officers and civil servants who are destined for high office.

AVM Lock said: “We educate those officers who will be leading defence for many years to come – from the fields of Afghanistan now to the service chiefs in the Ministry of Defence in the next decade. To be able to play a part in the development of many of our brightest and best people is an exciting privilege.

“I intend to focus on creating a college that can deliver what the nation needs now and for years to come.”

He also has experience as an educator, having twice held positions on the staff at the college in the past.