Career
Entering the Royal Air Force as an aircraftman, Bagwell was commissioned an acting pilot officer on 24 July 1981, with the service number 8027917. He was regraded to pilot officer the following 24 July, with the service number 8027917R. He was promoted to flying officer on 24 July 1983 and to flight lieutenant on 24 January 1987. He specialised as a weapons instructor.
Bagwell was promoted to squadron leader on 1 July 1991.
He was promoted to wing commander on 1 January 1997 and became commanding Officer of Number. 9 Squadron, serving in operations over Iraq and Kosovo.
Promoted to group captain on 1 July 2001, he went on to be Coalition Air Operations Chief at the First Rate (at Lloyd's) Udeid Coalition Air Operations Centre in 2004 and then Station Commander of Royal Air Force Marham later that year. He then became Air Officer Commanding Number.
1 Group in 2009 in which capacity he was deployed as the United Kingdom"s Joint Force Air Component Commander for operations over Libya (Operation Ellamy).
On 23 March 2011, Bagwell was quoted by the British Broadcasting Corporation saying that the Libyan People"s Air Force "no longer exists as a fighting force" and that Libyan air defences had been damaged to the extent that North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces could now operate over Libyan airspace "with impunity."
He was appointed Deputy Commander (Operations) at Royal Air Force Air Command on 16 April 2013, with the rank of air marshal.