David J. Griffin

DAVID J. GRIFFIN

David Griffin was born in London in 1954, and raised in Halesowen near Birmingham in the Midlands of England. Having an interest in 'all things Air Force' from a very early age - passed on from his Father (a former RAF Warrant Officer Air Gunner/Armourer), he proudly became a member of his local Air Training Corps Squadron, No.223 (Halesowen) ATC, in his early teens remaining with them up until he joined the RAF.

Joining the Royal Air Force at the age of 18 and choosing to become an Armourer, he worked in the Explosive Storage Area and with Hawker Hunters (No.45 & No.58 Sqns) and Hawker-Siddeley Harriers (No.1 Sqn, & No.233OCU), while serving at RAF Wittering, and detached to Decimomannu in Sardinia and twice to RAF Belize, the first time with the Harriers in 1975 in response to the Guatemalan threat, the second time, two years later but still with the Harriers.

After leaving the RAF, he immediately went to work for Airwork Services Ltd., on contract with the Royal Air Force of Oman where he remained for the next 21 years, serving at Thumrait, Masirah, Salalah and Seeb, working with the Hawker Hunter (No.6 Sqn), Sepecat Jaguar International (No.8 & No.20 Sqns), BAC167 Strikemaster (No.1 Sqn), BAe Hawk (No.6 Sqn) and Augusta-Bell AB205 and AB214 Helicopters (No.3 Sqn), firstly as a squadron line Armourer and later as Southern Oman Aircraft Armament Instructor. David also worked with a variety of USAF and USN aircraft including the A-6, A-7, F-14, F-15 and F-16, and weapon systems during this time and helped to train Omani helicopter aircrew using the 7.62mm GPMG and M60D door-mounted machine guns on the Augusta Bell AB205 and AB214 helicopters.

While in the Middle-East, David earned a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering.

Moving to Tacoma, WA, USA in 1999, David worked as a Corrections Officer before returning to the Middle East for a year maintaining and inspecting munitions stocks with DynCorp for US and Coalition forces at Al-Udeid AB, Qatar, up to the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Returning from Qatar, David returned to corrections work and became a supervisor in a Washington State Special Commitment Center; a facility to house sex offenders. He still lives close to the Tacoma area and continues to work for the State of Washington, but now at an institution for the developmentally disabled where the clients are much nicer people!

David's family has had associations with the Hunter from the early days of testing, two of his relatives worked with the early Hunter trials at both Boscombe Down and in North Africa, other relatives worked with the Royal Netherlands Air Force, Fokker and Avio-Diepen in the Netherlands.

David has traveled extensively in the Northern Hemisphere, living and visiting in the Far East, Middle East, Europe and North and Central America, and all the while in search of more parts of the Hunter story.

He still maintains his strong interest in all things Hawker Hunter; his lifelong 'Hunter Obsession'.