Group Captain Brazier was born in Warwickshire, and was brought up in Norfolk, England where he attended school at the Cathedral School in Norwich.
He joined the Royal Air Force from school and graduated from the RAF College Cranwell at the age of 18. Having completed Navigator training, he was posted to his first Operational unit in 1986; 16 Sqn at RAF Laarbruch in Germany flying Tornado ground attack ac. In a flying career spanning 21 years he completed numerous tours in Germany and the UK, most recently as Deputy Station Commander at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. A Qualified Weapons Instructor with a total of over 2500 hours on Tornado, his operational experience includes hundreds of hours over Iraq and 6 months in Kabul, Afghanistan in early 2008. He was awarded a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service for his actions over Iraq in 1999.
Away from flying, Gp Capt Brazier has completed a number of staff tours in both Air and Intelligence specialisations. These include a tour in the NATO CAOC at Kalkar, Germany and 3 years in the Commitments Area of the Ministry of Defence with responsibility for UK Air ISR capability and the Iraq theatre of operations. He also spent a year at the UK Staff College in 2001/2 where he gained an MA in Defence Studies from King's College London. From 2008-10, he was employed in the UK's Permanent Joint HQ responsible for the Analysis teams providing Intelligence on all areas where the UK has forces deployed. He assumed command of Northwood Headquarters on 4 Oct 10.
Away from work, Gp Capt Brazier is married to Lisa. His interests include travel, current affairs, military history and country walks.