Appleton was commissioned into the
Royal Air Force (RAF) in January 1991. After qualifying as a navigator, he became officer commanding
No. 28 (Army Cooperation) Squadron. He went on to be station commander at
RAF Shawbury in August 2015, Assistant Head Commitments,
Joint Helicopter Command in May 2017 and Deputy Chief of Staff, Support at
Allied Air Command in July 2019. After that he was appointed Transformation Programme Director at
RAF Air Command in September 2022 and
Air Officer Commanding No. 2 Group RAF in March 2024. ==References==