Air Chief Marshal Sir John Frederick Willis GBE, KCB, FRAeS (27 October 1937 – 9 January 2008) was a senior Royal Air Force officer.

John Frederick Willis was born in London and educated at Dulwich College and the RAF College Cranwell.^[1] Willis gained his RAF commission in 1958 and went on to fly Vulcan bombers.^[1] He went on to be Commanding Officer of No. 27 Squadron at RAF Scampton.^[1] He was appointed deputy director of Air Staff Plans at the Ministry of Defence in 1979, Station Commander at RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus in 1982 and Director of Air Staff Briefing & Co-ordination at the Ministry of Defence in 1985.^[2] Later that year he was made Chief of the Special Weapons Branch at Headquarters SHAPE.^[2]

In 1989 he was appointed Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Policy & Nuclear).^[1] He went on to be one of the RAF's most senior commanders, becoming Director-General of Training in 1991, Air Officer Commanding-in Chief of Support Command in 1992 and the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff at the Ministry of Defence in 1995.^[1] He retired from the Royal Air Force in 1997.^[1]

In retirement he was a member of the council of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and a patron of the Second World War Experience Centre. He was also actively involved in his local Royal Air Forces Association.^[3]

In 1959, while living in London, Sir John met his wife Merrill, who was a nurse. They married in 1960. They had five children together, Jonathan, David, Kate, Rachel, and Rob. Sir John had fourteen grandchildren: Rebecca, Michael, Gregory, William, Joe, Ben, Finn, Ella, Myles, George, Sarah, Daisy, Pip and Heidi.^[3]