Squadron Leader Mike Turner is the Royal Air Force commander, RAF Lakenheath. He is head of branch for the 570 British civilian workers at RAF Lakenheath. He serves as an adviser to the 48th Fighter Wing commander, U.S. Air Force, on all matters concerning the Royal Air Force, Ministry of Defence and the U.K. government policies on defense. He is also the interface between British citizens and the base officials. He is responsible for all land assets and U.K. government interest on the base.

He was born in 1959 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. He attended local schools in the area, culminating in attendance at the West Suffolk College of Education to complete an Ordinary National Certificate in Business Studies. He went into the Civil Service joining the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food before undertaking a Higher National Diploma in Business Studies at the Norwich City College of Further Education.

Squadron Leader Turner was commissioned into the Administrative Branch of the Royal Air Force in 1984. After training at the RAF College Cranwell and RAF Hereford, he has had a varied career covering all aspects of the Branch specialisation, including Personnel Management, Facilities Management, Financial Management, Training and Public Relations. He has completed tours of duty in both the United Kingdom and overseas, including RAF Swinderby, RAF Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, RAF Laarbruch, RAF Catterick, RAF Wroughton, Headquarters Personnel and Training Command, the Ministry of Defence in London, and recently, RAF Marham.

Highlights of his service include three years in Germany in the early 90’s at the end of the cold war and the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and a four-month detachment to the Gulf in 1995 serving in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait. He was promoted to Squadron Leader in 1997 and attended the Joint Services Command and Staff College in 2001 prior to joining RAF Lakenheath August 2001.