A pilot instructor with the Army Air Corps has been made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Warrant Officer Class 1 Angus Bartaby, 57, is a Pilot Instructor at the Headquarters Central Flying School (CFS), RAF Shawbury in Shropshire.
Angus's long and distinguished career as a Qualified Helicopter Instructor in the British Army has made him an outright leader in his field” where “he has made an outstanding and vital contribution to UK and International Defence”. WO1 Bartaby's citation
During a distinguished career spanning over 35 years, Angus has served around the world, for the greatest part in Germany and the UK, and has taken part in operational tours in the Balkans, Iraq and Northern Ireland.
As a pilot, he started flying on the Gazelle helicopter before moving to the Lynx and most recently the Juno at RAF Shawbury. As a CFS Examiner, Angus has flown over 30 different types of helicopter with the British military and allies across the globe.
WO1 Barbaty is an A1 QHI (Qualified Helicopter Instructor), the highest instructional category awarded, of which there are only five currently serving in the UK military.
Angus, from Taunton, found out about the award on the day he and his wife, Ines, were celebrating their wedding anniversary. They have two children, Ryan, 32, and Megan, 24.
“I am incredibly surprised, delighted and honoured all at once by this award," he said. "I am particularly fortunate to have had the support of my family, to have served and worked with so many talented and experienced people in my career who have mentored and helped me in order to achieve what I have today.”
The citation for his MBE noted Angus’s “long and distinguished career as a Qualified Helicopter Instructor in the British Army has made him an outright leader in his field” where “he has made an outstanding and vital contribution to UK and International Defence”.
Angus has been instrumental in safe flying practices in the Army Air Corps through the creation and implementation of multiple CFS regulations, maintenance of instructional standards and sustaining the output of helicopter instructors to frontline operations.
The Army Air Corps (AAC) is the combat aviation arm of the British Army. Recognisable by their distinctive blue berets, AAC soldiers deliver firepower from battlefield helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to overwhelm and defeat enemy forces.