The man is now in post who will oversee the transition of the Typhoon jet force in Scotland from RAF Leuchars to RAF Lossiemouth.
Air Commodore Gerry Mayhew has taken up post as Air Officer Scotland and Officer Commanding RAF Leuchars.
He will be responsible for implementing plans for the formal handover of the base to the army. Typhoons are due to start leaving Leuchars for Lossiemouth from the end of this year.
An experienced Jaguar and Tornado pilot, Air Commodore Mayhew completed a Typhoon conversion course before arriving at RAF Leuchars.
He has amassed nearly 3,000 flying hours and logged more than 200 operational sorties over the Balkans and Iraq, including flying the final operational RAF fast jet sortie over Iraq in May 2009.
He replaces Air Commodore Gavin Parker, who will become Assistant Chief of Staff at Permanent Joint Headquarters.
Air Commodore Mayhew said: “I am looking forward to continuing the excellent work of my predecessor Air Commodore Parker in growing the Typhoon force and working with the men and women of the Royal Air Force based at Leuchars and elsewhere in Scotland to deliver our responsibilities in support of RAF and wider defence priorities.”
An RAF Leuchars spokesman said: “Air Commodore Mayhew will command a fully configured frontline RAF station until the transition of the Typhoon Force in Scotland from RAF Leuchars to RAF Lossiemouth is completed successfully.
“Air Commodore Mayhew will be responsible for implementing plans for the formal handover of the base to the army.”
Raised and educated in Warwickshire, Air Commodore Mayhew was commissioned into the RAF in 1988.
He is married and his interests are music, gardening, skiing, and keeping fit.