Aurelia Whitegrove
John Ironwood | |
|---|---|
 Air Lieutenant Commandant Whitegrove in her official portrait after promotion to ALCd, 2022. | |
| Born | 14 January 1977 Kaharoa, Kalua Territory, Meridon |
| Allegiance |  Meridon |
| Service/ |  Meridonian Air Forces |
| Years of service | 2000 - Present |
| Rank |  Air Lieutenant Commandant |
| Commands held | Tactical Fighter Squadron 54 Air Forces Development and Evaluation Wing Air Sector Southeast |
| Awards | see below |
Air Lieutenant Commandant Aurelia Whitegrove, DSSC, (born 14 January 1977) is a Meridonian Air Forces general officer who currently serves as a liaison officer to the Executive Office of the President. She previously served as the Meridonian representative to the International Coalition of Nation's Security Council, and as a fighter and test aircraft pilot.
Early Life
Aurelia was born in 1977 in Kaharoa, Kalua Territory to a lumber salesman father and a cafe owner mother, and was the second of four siblings- all brothers. Whitegrove is of primarily English and French descent. Her father was a conscript during the final peacetime years of Meridonian national service, but was medically discharged due to the discovery of a degenerative condition. Aurelia cites her father as a major reason towards her attraction towards the military service. She was educated in the Kaharoa public school system, including the Marigold Winters Preparatory School, and was active through her scholastic years in soccer and later in Meridonian rules football. She spent much of her free time assisting her mother as a worker in her cafe. She participated briefly with the Territorial Cadets, a military-aligned cadet organization oriented with the Meridonian Army's Territorial Forces.
Whitegrove came to enjoy her work assisting her mother and her participation in student government organizations, roles in which she has claimed lead to her respect of public servitude. In 1996, Whitegrove applied to and was accepted to the Air Forces Academy in Orofêt with the intention of becoming a jet pilot. Whitegrove was involved in a scandal in 1997 regarding ritualized hazing of female cadets in the cross-country running team, while she was in her second year and gave testimony to a courtmartial that saw a services-wide investigation into organized hazing and discriminatory practices. During her training at Orofêt, she was qualified as a pilot by University-affiliated civilian flight instructors, earning a private license for airplanes in 1998. She graduated in 2000 with a degree in international relations as 189th out of a class of 968 cadets, and serving as a Cadet Group Commander, the third seniormost leadership position. Whitegrove cites her academy years as the most formative of her life and, despite being hazed herself, regards the Academy as one of Meridon's finest educational institutes.
Military Career
Whitegrove was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 2000 and ordered to report to MAB Lisbet for primary flight training with Training Wing 23, from which she graduated in late 2000. Whitegrove showed natural aptitude for flight and graduated third in her class, and was selected for tactical aircraft and hence assigned to Training Wing 21 at MAB Bernic for advanced training, from which she graduated in early 2001. She was then assigned to 44 Conversion Squadron to train on the F5M2 Lynx, where she then received conversion training to fly on F5M6 Lynx models. She graduated in 2003 and was assigned to 54 Tactical Fighter Squadron "Blackpeaks", based at MAB Vinovia in Helena Territory.
Whitegrove's fellow officers regarded her as an exemplary officer and an exceptional pilot- she was generally well liked by 'everyone except for the maintenance crews', according to one of her former commanding officers. She was consistently promoted earlier than expected resulting from high personal fitness reports. Whitegrove participated in a pair of deployments, including a combat deployment to Cerdania in 2014, where she, then a squadron officer executive; achieved three air-to-air weapons kills against fighters and was involved in a number of air-to-ground sorties. She was meritoriously promoted to Colonel following her deployment on the direct recommendation of General John Ironwood owing to her involvement in two strikes that helped preserved friendly formations under withering fire. Following her service in Cerdania, she briefly became an instructor pilot and pilot evaluator for Tactical Fighter Wing 12 before she received a transfer to the Air Forces Development and Evaluation Wing as a test pilot.
Whitegrove served as a test pilot in AFDEX Wing from 2015 to 2022. During this time she was primarily involved in the development of a number of "Seven Series" tactical aircraft- namely the Laurein B7M Raven and Gruening F7M Wedgetail. She additionally served as an Air Forces subject matter expert on beyond visual range warfare, contributing significant developmental advice on the MUA-180 ERIS extended range air-to-air missile system and delivering classes on BVR warfare to operational Navy and Air Forces squadrons.
During her time as a test pilot, she was involved in a pair of ejections- one from a F5M6 Lynx following a control surface failure in 2017, and a second from a F7M Wedgetail following a low-altitude birdstrike in 2021. Whitegrove was medically grounded following the second ejection as the Air Forces prohibits pilots from operating tactical aircraft if they have underwent two ejections. She was transferred to a staff role on the AFDEX wing, attending Defense Senior Staff College in 2021 following a promotion to Air Commodore. Following her completion of DSSC, she was transfered to Air Forces headquarters in Cordelia, where she served briefly on the staff as a foreign military cooperation liason officer, primarily interfacing with the Anagonian Confederate States Air Force.
Aurelia was born in 1977 in Kaharoa, Kalua Territory to a lumber salesman father and a cafe owner mother, and spent much of her early childhood assisting her mother in the store when she was not at school. Aurelia attended Meridonian public schools for the entirety of her mandatory education and was active in soccer and later in Meridonian football. She applied to and was accepted to the Air Forces Academy in Orofêt in 1996 and maintained above average grades. She graduated in 2000 as a Group Commander (the third most senior cadet leadership position) and 189th in a class of 968 cadets, and reported for initial flight training at Meridon Air Forces Base Lisbet that same year. She completed flight training from primary to advanced airframe from 2000-2003 before serving as a fighter pilot in Tactical Fighter Squadron 54 based at MAB Vinovia. She served in this role from 2003-2015 including as squadron officer executive before receiving a transfer to become a test pilot, a role in which she served from 2015-2022. A pair of ejections from experimental aircraft meant that she was medically disqualified from flights in fighter aircraft. She was promoted to Air Lieutenant Commandant in late 2022 before serving as the Meridonian envoy to ICON's Security Council in 2023 until its defunction, a role in which her oratory earned her a non-insignificant amount of domestic appreciation. She very briefly served as an operations officer for Air Sector Southeast before her involvement in the Advent Crisis brought her again to the limelight, and she was given a role as a liason officer personally by President Yui Townley.
Ironwood was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1993 and was posted as a staff officer in A Company, 8 Batallion Ranger, 41 Regiment Rangers, where he served until 1998 in roles including a platoon commander, company executive officer, and company officer commanding. He was promoted to Major in 1999, when he participated in the Maltikan Conflict as a battalion staff and planning officer. Ironwood was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 2000 following action in Maltika and received a battlefield promotion to Colonel the same year, taking command of 26 Regiment Galleston Mechanized following the death of Colonel Richard Girden in action.
Ironwood was crucial in organizing the defense of Yomium against a numerically superior force and directed a successful counteroffensive operation against Maltikan Liberation Army forces that lead to a collapse of organized resistance within the country within a week, actions that saw him promoted personally by President Marc Fontaine to the rank of Regimental General and inducted into the Order of Grand Marina following the conclusion of the conflict. He briefly served in the divisional staff of 16 Division Infantry. In 2008, he was sent to the Defense Senior Staff College, returning to 16 Division in 2010 to serve as its executive officer before taking command of the division in 2013.
As Officer Commanding he oversaw the regiment's participation in the Cerdanian Emergency of 2014, where his actions were credited with the preservation of government forces, and subsequent maneuvers brought the conflict to a close within 48 hours. Known popularly as the 'Cerdanian Roadtrip', Ironwood's agressive utilization of aerial and precision fires in support of maneuver meant the conflict levied a disproportionately high ratio of hostile to friendly casualties, the fact of which garnered him immense popularity back home and in certain military circles. Ironwood also pioneered the utilization of the 'Army of Sensors' methodology of warfighting, equipping troops with advanced networking technology including drones, smartphone based team management systems, and improved radio systems that allowed formations from the squad level and higher to more readily conduct exploitative maneuvers on the tactical level to take better advantage of battlefield circumstances.
Following the deployment in Cerdania, he served on the corps staff of II Corps. He was promoted to Lieutenant General and officer commanding of II Corps in 2016. In 2018, he directed disciplinary actions against a number of subordinate officers within II Corps following the unveiling of an underground crime ring, a scandal which by association marred his image, although his handling of the situation was later praised. Ironwood was transfered to Joint Forces Command in 2020, and promoted to the rank of General in 2022 upon selection to serve as Commander, Land Operations, Joint Forces Command. In 2023, following the April 2023 kamikaze attacks, Ironwood was tapped to serve as officer commanding of Combined Task Force Oak Hand, a Meridonian-spearheaded military coalition that conducted operations against the Masculist state in New England. Under his leadership, coalition forces toppled the government structure and eliminated tens of thousands of Masculist-aligned troops within seventy-two hours of initiating ground operations, being widely acknowledged as one of the most significant Meridonian military victories in seventy years.
Personal Life
Ironwood has personal residences in Cordelia and in Rossbrook, Smith Island Territory, and is active in support of multiple civilian organizations, including serving as a member of the Board of Trustees for Saint Jeanne Military Academy and as an outspoken proponent for Scouts Meridon. In an interview in 2018, Ironwood stated his hobbies included camping, cooking, and target shooting. He has never married nor had children, and has joked that 'the Army is my wife'.
Honors and Awards
Promotions
| Insignia | Date of Rank |
|---|---|
 2nd Lieutenant |
10 June 2000 |
 Lieutenant |
20 November 2001 |
 Captain |
3 May 2005 |
 Major |
10 May 2009 |
 Lieutenant Colonel |
18 January 2013 |
 Colonel |
8 August 2014 |
 Air Commodore |
19 November 2021 |
| Air Lieutenant Commandant |
3 February 2023 |