Warrant Officer Dave Hegarty

Warrant Officer Dave Hegarty joined the Royal Air Force in 1981 at the age of 16, as a chef. During his career he has served throughout the UK and Germany as well as numerous operational tours in the Middle East and Falkland Islands. As a chef he has been employed in every aspect of catering the Royal Air Force has to offer, including tours as the personal chef to the Commandant Royal College of Defence Studies and Air Officer Admin. He has had the honour of representing the Royal Air Force in many culinary competitions at Combined Service and international level, winning “Gold Best in Class at the 1998 British Culinary Championships. After this success he was selected by the Combined Services Culinary Arts Team (CSCAT) and represented them at the Culinary World Cup in 1998 and again in the British Culinary Championships Hotelympia in 2000. In 2003 he was the proud recipient of the coveted CSCAT Medal.

After a tour at the Airmen’s Command Squadron, in 2004 he was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer and in 2007 achieved his ambition to become the Squadron Warrant Officer at Catering Training Squadron. During this time he created the Royal Air Force Culinary Championships; as a precursor for developing the trade group’s culinary expertise and masterminding the RAF’s entry for Ex Joint Caterer, competing against our sister services. During his time as the Royal Air Force Culinary Arts Team Manager he retained the title of “Service Champions” for an unprecedented 3 consecutive years. In 2009 Warrant Officer Hegarty was selected to manage the CSCAT. His first task was to develop a team capable of winning the Culinary World Cup in 2010 and although they achieved 2 Gold Medals, they were narrowly beaten to the crown of world champions. He is at present extremely busy training for the Culinary Olympics, due to be held in Erfurt, Germany in October 2012.

In June 2008, Warrant Officer Hegarty was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in the Queens Birthday Honours list for his outstanding service and commitment. In May 2011 he was posted to RAF Valley as the Station Warrant Officer and Contract Catering Supervising Officer.