Wigston was commissioned into the
Royal Air Force on 23 October 1986 on a university cadetship, with the rank of
acting pilot officer. He was promoted to
pilot officer on 15 July 1989, to
flying officer on 15 January 1990, and to
flight lieutenant on 15 January 1992. Flying the
Tornado GR1 and GR4, he served successively with
No. II(AC) Squadron,
No. 14 Squadron, and
No. 31 Squadron, before returning to No. II(AC). He was promoted to
squadron leader on 1 January 2000, and to
wing commander on 1 July 2003. He was given command of
No. 12 Squadron in 2005, and served as commander of
No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing during a deployment to
Iraq in 2007. After assignments at the Ministry of Defence, he went on to be director of air operations at the
International Security Assistance Force Headquarters in Afghanistan in 2011. Wigston was promoted to
air vice-marshal on 20 January 2015, and appointed Commander
British Forces Cyprus and
Sovereign Base Areas Administrator (SBAA). As SBAA, he conducted a same-sex marriage ceremony in October 2016. He became
Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in March 2017 and, having been promoted to
air marshal on 20 August 2018, he took up the post of
Deputy Commander (Personnel) and
Air Member for Personnel and Capability. Wigston handed over this appointment in May 2019. Wigston was promoted to
air chief marshal and become
Chief of the Air Staff, the professional head of the RAF, in succession to
Sir Stephen Hillier on 26 July 2019. Wigston was appointed
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the
2020 Birthday Honours. In late 2021, his term of office as Chief of the Air Staff was extended from the usual three years to four years. Wigston was replaced by
Sir Richard Knighton as professional head of the RAF on 2 June 2023.
Criticism over diversity targets Wigston became
Chief of the Air Staff in July 2019. He made promoting
diversity a high priority and denoted the level of complaints by female and
BAME military staff as of "serious concern". In April 2023,
Sky News obtained a leaked transcript of Wigston saying he would "test the limits of the law" to fast-track the promotion of women and ethnic minorities over white male employees, as part of his personal campaign to "broaden diversity." After it was revealed that the former RAF head of recruitment had identified, as a result of said policy "around 160 cases" of discrimination against white men, Wigston admitted to "mistakes and failings." Called before a
House of Commons Committee, in February 2023, Wigston apologised for these mistakes. Despite his policy's reported risks to national security and preparedness, he did not immediately resign from his position. == Personal life ==