Former Air Force chief Errol McCormack to be honoured with RAAF fly past

From humble beginnings as an apprentice fitter and turner, Errol McCormack soared in a storeyed military career to become the air force’s highest ranking officer. His legacy will be honoured by a RAAF fly past in Canberra on Monday, April 22.

Bundaberg has lost a son and great servant to the nation with the passing of former Air Force chief Errol McCormack.

Bundaberg has lost a son and great servant to the nation with the passing of former Air Force chief Errol McCormack.

Mr McCormack died in Canberra on April 8, leaving behind a loving family and a deep legacy from decades of service to the Royal Australian Air Force.

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Born in Bundaberg in 1941, Mr McCormack attended Kalkie and Bundaberg South State Schools and Bundaberg State High School before undertaking an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner at the Bundaberg Foundry.

Mr McCormack’s son Matt, himself a serving RAAF officer and pilot, said his father would often speak fondly of growing up in regional Queensland.

On one occasion, when Errol was about nine years old, he took a train from Bundaberg to visit his brother in Longreach.

Errol (back row, middle) often spoke fondly of growing up in Bundaberg.

Due to delays and cancellations, he was prepared to sleep in a connecting train station until he was befriended by a local who gave him food and lodging for the night.

“It’s indicative of the toughness of a nine year old at that time, you just can’t imagine that happening these days,” Matt said.

At school, Errol was unable to play with the other children due to a long-term illness, which led to him often sitting under a tree in the schoolyard alone reading books.

“He was quite focused on bettering himself and has always been very motivated,” Matt said.

Errol started learning to fly at the age of 17 with the Bundaberg Aero Club, going on to earn his private pilot’s licence.

After initially entertaining thoughts of becoming a commercial pilot, he decided to join the RAAF in the early days of the Vietnam War.

He received his acceptance letter from the RAAF on the same day that he received a conscription letter for the army, in what Matt described as a “sliding doors moment”.

“Obviously, he was quite fortunate that he didn’t get drafted as a grunt,” he said.

Errol (left) started learning to fly at the age of 17 with the Bundaberg Aero Club before joining the RAAF in the early days of the Vietnam War.

After completing his flight training and becoming a commissioned officer in 1963, he served in the Indonesia-Malaysia conflict, with Matt recalling some stories Errol told illustrating both his youth and the more relaxed nature of the service at that time.

Due to the pressure of serving in a combat zone the pilots would repair to the bar of an evening, with Matt saying “they might have gone a little overboard” at times.

On one occasion after a big night, Errol was sitting in his fighter on alert and fell asleep.

“All he recalled is waking up in the cockpit, airborne, heading 180 degrees out from where he should have been going, with blood running down his face from his ear,” Matt said, laughing at the memory of his father telling the story.

Bundaberg son Errol McCormack soared high throughout a storied military career to become the air force’s highest ranking officer.

“I think he might have had a big night that night. But he turned around, went to where he was meant to go, did the job and then came home.”

Errol then served in the Vietnam War for six months, which, while it was not the same traumatic experience as infantry troops, Matt said his father did not speak about this time a great deal due to his humble nature.

“The air war was a different war to the trenches … you never really see the whites of the eyes of your enemy,” Matt said.

“But having said that … he never really talked about his career and what he did; we feel there are some pretty large gaps.

“And I think that’s just driven by the fact that he was incredibly humble about his own accomplishments, and was very thoughtful of others.”

Errol (right) served as a pilot in the Indonesia-Malaysia conflict and Vietnam War, before going on exchange to the US as an instructor pilot.

While humble, Matt said Errol’s strong ethical principles often rubbed people the wrong way as he rose through the ranks, including becoming Australia’s air attache in Washington and commander of the Integrated Air Defence System in Malaysia before being appointed chief of the air force, the service’s most senior rank, in 1998.

“He was very ethically and morally driven, and put the organisation and people at the forefront of all his decision making,” Matt said.

“He would call a spade a spade, if things were going on that weren’t right, he would say and do something about it.

“He put the organisation and people at the forefront of all his decision making, and sometimes that doesn’t sit well with people surprisingly.”

While he had a few detractors, there are many more current and former RAAF officers who have told Matt of their respect for Errol’s “forthright approach and his integrity”.

Above all, Errol is remembered with fondness and respect for making a large cultural shift in the RAAF through creating a forum through which the most senior ranks could have regular engagement and align their planning.

“Previously it was more personality driven … but he was able to create a more collegiate approach to advancement of the air force,” Matt said.

Errol McCormack rose through the ranks, becoming Australia’s air attache in Washington and commander of the Integrated Air Defence System in Malaysia before being appointed chief of the air force, the service’s most senior rank, in 1998.

After retiring from the RAAF in 2001, Errol established the Williams Foundation, a think tank through which retired RAAF servicemen and women and leaders of industry challenge the status quo of the air force in ways not possible for currently serving officers.

“That was really influential to enable a continual change for improvement of the service,” Matt said.

Sadly, at about the age of 80 Errol was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given 12-18 months to live.

After fighting on for three more years, he died at Canberra’s Clare Holland House aged 82.

Following a funeral service at the Anzac memorial chapel at the Duntroon Royal Military College, a RAAF fly past in ‘missing man’ formation will honour Errol and the significant legacy he has left for the service and the nation.

“He’ll be sent off in a proper air force military fashion, which I think he deserves,” Matt said.

The funeral service for Errol McCormack runs from 1.30-3pm on Monday, April 22.

For anyone who wishes to attend the service remotely, William Cole funerals is hosting a live stream which can be viewed via https://attnd.com.au/errol-mccormack

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