David Evans (RAAF officer)

Air Marshal Selwyn David Evans, AC, DSO, AFC (3 June 1925 – 2 September 2020) was a senior commander of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and a writer and consultant on defence matters. He served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1982 to 1985. After leaving the RAAF, he published two military treatises, A Fatal Rivalry: Australia's Defence at Risk and War: A Matter of Principles, as well as an autobiography.

Enlisting in the Air Force in 1943, Evans graduated from flying school as a sergeant pilot, and was converting to Beaufort bombers when World War II ended. He gained his commission as a pilot officer in 1947. From 1948 to 1949, he was a member of the Australian contingent operating C-47 Dakota transports in the Berlin Airlift. He was a flying instructor in the early 1950s, before becoming a VIP captain with the Governor-General's Flight in 1954. His service in the flight earned him the Air Force Cross in 1957. In the 1960s Evans was twice posted to No. 2 Squadron, flying Canberra jet bombers, first as a flight commander when the unit was based in Malaysia from 1960 to 1962, then as its commanding officer during the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1968. The Canberras achieved a high degree of accuracy on their bombing missions under his leadership, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order after completing his tour in Vietnam.

Evans held senior staff positions in the early 1970s before serving as Officer Commanding RAAF Base Amberley from 1975 to 1977. Promoted to air vice-marshal, he then became Chief of Air Force Operations. In this role, he worked to improve the RAAF's strategy for the defence of Australia, to fully exploit the "air–sea gap" on the northern approaches to the continent. Appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in 1981, he was Chief of Joint Operations and Plans in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) before his promotion to air marshal and Chief of the Air Staff in April 1982. As head of the Air Force, he focussed on morale, air power doctrine, and improving defensive capabilities in northern Australia. He was raised to Companion of the Order of Australia in 1984.

Retiring from the RAAF in May 1985, Evans began to write and lecture on defence matters, and also stood for election in federal politics. He was a board member of and defence advisor to British Aerospace Australia from 1990 to 2009, and chairman of the National Capital Authority from 1997 to 2003. In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal for his services to the ADF and the Canberra community.