Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Roper commands the Jamaica Defence Force Air Wing, assuming his present appointment in August 2003. He was born on 08 September 1963 and grew up on the grounds of Munro College, St Elizabeth where he went to school.

Lieutenant Colonel Roper joined the Jamaica Defence Force in 1985, having read for his first degree in Chemistry at the University of the West Indies (Mona). After completing initial officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where he was awarded the ‘Overseas Cane’, he served briefly with the Second Battalion the Jamaica Regiment before proceeding on flying course with the Canadian Armed Forces at Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada.

Having received his ‘Wings’, Colonel Roper was assigned to fly helicopters in the Rotary Wing Flight in the Jamaica Defence Force. He held a number of positions including Unit Instrument Check Pilot, Standards Officer on the light observation helicopter, Adjutant and Operations Officer, and was involved in a number of internal security and anti-narcotics operations.

In 1992, Lieutenant Colonel Roper returned to Canada to complete Junior Staff College and Land Forces College in Kingston, Ontario. He was then appointed Assistant Staff Officer Operations at the Headquarters Jamaica Defence Force in 1993 where he served for 18 months before returning to the JDF Air Wing as the Officer Commanding Support Flight. Colonel Roper has since commanded the Training Flight and served as the Second in Command Air Wing, and has remained as a Standards Officer on the utility helicopter platform. He has over 5300 flying hours. In 2001 he completed the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Watchfield, UK where he also read for a Masters in Defence Studies from Kings' College London. In 2002 he was awarded the Medal of Honour for Meritorious Service. He is a Justice of the Peace for the parish of Kingston.

Lieutenant Colonel Roper is a Christian. He is also an ardent sportsman and has represented Jamaica in squash and field hockey. In addition he has also represented the Force in volleyball and football. Based on a few weeks training in the Alps he believes that downhill skiing could be added to the latter list. Colonel Roper is married to Janice and they have two sons, Blake and Robert. He also enjoys strumming on his guitar and listening to music.