Group Captain Rowena Atherton was a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer. With a logistics background, Atherton joined the RAF aged 17 in 1979 and completed training at RAF Henlow. She was the first female Station Commander at RAF Wittering and was charged with the radical reorganisation of the Royal Air Force's logistics organisation. This included the relocation of the majority of RAF Air Combat Support Units (ACSUs) to the station and the creation of the A4 Force Headquarters. Atherton deployed to Afghanistan in July 2008 as Deputy Commander Joint Force Support Headquarters.