Carey Adamson


Carey William Adamson, was a senior officer of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. He was Chief of the Air Staff from 1995 to 1999 and Chief of Defence Force from 1999 to 2001.
Adamson grew up in Fairlie before attending Timaru Boys' High School, where he was a boarder. As a teenager, Adamson joined the Air Training Corps. He then joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1961, where he served as a pilot flying Austers and Harvards. In 1964 Adamson was assigned to the United States to train on the C130 Hercules.
In the 1979 Queen's Birthday Honours, Adamson was awarded the Air Force Cross. In the 1999 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Adamson died on 10 May 2019.