Stacey joined the
Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1980. Much of his early career spent was focusing on
air defence, including tours in the Falkland Islands and Belize, and loan service with the
Indonesian Army. He later commanded a
surface-to-air missile squadron in
Yorkshire as a
squadron leader, and served as a Liaison Officer at the
Defence Research Agency. There he worked within the Counter-Terrorist Explosives Detection and Countermeasures field, and was a desk officer in the
Ministry of Defence Joint Service Operational Requirements branch. Stacey attended the
Staff College, Camberley in 1994 and upon completion of the course was posted as a policy and programmes staff officer with the rank of
wing commander. He spent 10 months on the staff of the
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Carl Bildt, in 1997, and then in 1998 he took command of No. 1 Royal Air Force Tactical Survive to Operate (Force Protection) Headquarters. As commander of the aforementioned Headquarters, Stacey completed two
Southern Watch tours in Iraq and led the establishment of the RAF Detachment at
Ali al Salem,
Kuwait. He was later attached to HQ
UK 4 Armoured Brigade, and deployed with forward elements on day one of the NATO Kosovo Land Campaign, in preparation for the Headquarters providing the framework organisation for the activation and running of the
KFOR airfield at
Pristina,
Kosovo. In 2004 he attended the
Royal College of Defence Studies. He was then appointed as ACOS J7/Director Joint Warfare Training Centre within the UK's
Permanent Joint Headquarters. Stacey attended the UK Higher Command and Staff Course in January 2007 before joining NATO
Joint Force Command Brunssum to lead the J3 Ops Division. and was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the
2017 New Year Honours. ==Personal life==