Richard Alder is the Principal Consultant at Avtract Solutions, which provides consulting services to government and defence agencies on the use of specialised aviation resources. Mr Alder has been a leader in aerial firefighting for many decades. He was General Manager of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) in Australia for over seventeen years and was responsible for implementation of national collaborative arrangements for aerial firefighting. Before taking over NAFC he was the Manager of Fire Operations for the public land fire authority in the state of Victoria, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of state-wide strategies and policies on wildfire preparedness and response; and for the management of fire operations. Richard was the inaugural Chair of the International Fire Aviation Working Group, an advisory group to the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction; and has led or participated in a number of international missions to provide assistance for control of large wildfires including to the U.S.A. and in Europe. Mr Alder was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal in 2000, recognising the role he has played in innovation in bushfire management throughout Australia. He holds an Honours Degree in Forest Science and is a licensed, instrument-rated, aeroplane pilot. Richard is also certified to undertake a number of incident command system roles at bushfires including Air Operations Manager and Air Attack Supervisor.