David Niven (RAF officer)

Air Vice-Marshal David Miller Niven CB, CBE is a former Commander of Joint Helicopter Command.

RAF career
Educated at the University of St Andrews Niven joined the RAF in 1968. He became Commanding Officer of No. 18 Squadron and then No. 78 Squadron before becoming Station Commander at RAF Aldergrove; he was air advisior to the Director SAS during the Falklands War in 1982 and Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, Plans during the Gulf War in 1991.

He became a member of the implementation team to establish the Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood and then became the first commander of the new Joint Helicopter Command in October 1999 before retiring in January 2003.

He became Air Officer Northern Ireland on 1 September 2011 as a member of the Royal Air Force Reserve.