([[self-portrait]] taken in Baghdad 2007)"},"nickname":{"wt":""},"birth_date":{"wt":"{{birth date and age|df=y|1951|04|06}}"},"death_date":{"wt":""},"birth_place":{"wt":""},"death_place":{"wt":""},"allegiance":{"wt":"United Kingdom"},"branch":{"wt":"[[Royal Marines]]"},"serviceyears":{"wt":"1973–2007"},"rank":{"wt":"[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant General]]"},"unit":{"wt":""},"commands":{"wt":"[[Commandant General Royal Marines|Royal Marines]]
[[3 Commando Brigade]]
[[45 Commando]]"},"battles":{"wt":"[[Gulf War]]
[[Kosovo War]]
[[Iraq War]]"},"awards":{"wt":"[[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Mentioned in Despatches]]
[[Legion of Merit]] (United States)"},"relations":{"wt":""},"laterwork":{"wt":""}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwCQ">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}
Sir Robert Fry | |
---|---|
Born | 6 April 1951 |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Marines |
Years of service | 1973–2007 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Commands held | Royal Marines 3 Commando Brigade 45 Commando |
Battles/wars | Gulf War Kosovo War Iraq War |
Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Mentioned in Despatches Legion of Merit (United States) |
Lieutenant General Sir Robert Alan Fry, KCB , CBE (born 6 April 1951) [1] served as a Royal Marine for over 30 years and was involved in military operations in Northern Ireland, the Gulf, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. After retirement from military service he went into private business and, in 2007, became CEO of Hewlett Packard's defence and security business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2010 he was appointed chairman of McKinney Rogers International and subsequently, in 2011, Albany Associates.
After taking a degree in economics at the University of Bath and working for a period in commerce in New York City, Fry joined the Royal Marines in 1973. [2] His early career was spent at regimental and special duties. Attendance at the Army Staff College was followed by tours in the Ministry of Defence and Directorate of Special Forces, a sequence punctuated in the 1986/7 academic year when he studied for an MA (Distinction) in War Studies at King's College London. [3]
In 1989, Fry was appointed Chief of staff, HQ 3 Commando Brigade, and subsequently took part in Operation Haven in Northern Iraq. This was followed by a return to the Ministry of Defence before taking command of 45 Commando in 1995. In 1997, in the rank of brigadier, he became the Director of Naval Staff Duties in the Ministry of Defence, after which he took over command of 3 Commando Brigade in 1999 and deployed to Kosovo (CBE). [4]
He was appointed Commandant General Royal Marines in 2001, [5] and a year later he took up the job of Commander United Kingdom Amphibious Forces, in which capacity he deployed as the UK Maritime Component Commander for operations in the Gulf. [6]
He assumed the post of Chief of Staff at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood in May 2002 and remained in the job throughout the planning for and conduct of operations against Iraq. He took over the job of Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Commitments) in July 2003. [7]
In 2004, the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COS) directed Fry to develop a plan to support NATO and switch British forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, where they had been involved since 2001. The plan had to accommodate the difficulty of concurrent operations in two theatres but was judged necessary in order to prevent a failure of the Alliance and the loss of Southern Afghanistan to Taliban control. [8]
He was deployed as Senior British Military Representative and Deputy Commanding General, Multinational Force, Iraq in March 2006 [9] and retired in 2007. [2]
From July 2007 to March 2010, Fry served as CEO of HP Enterprise Services Defence & Security UK, [10] where he ran HPs $1.5 billion Europe, Africa and Middle East defence business. [4] In January 2010 he was appointed chairman of the business consultancy McKinney Rogers International and in 2011 became chairman of Albany Associates. [10] He remains an advisor to HP and a number of other companies in the defence and banking sectors. [4]
Fry is an established essayist and occasional columnist. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] He is also a visiting professor at Reading University, [3] a visiting fellow at Oxford University [6] and a visiting professor at King's College London Department of War Studies. [23] He is also a member the Royal United Services Institute executive council and a trustee of Help for Heroes. [24]
Early on in his career Fry was Mentioned in Despatches and appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Later on he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services as commander of a multinational brigade in Kosovo in 1998. In July 2003, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for his services as Director of Operations in the MoD, and was made Officer of the United States' Legion of Merit in 2006 for his final operational tour as Deputy Commanding General of coalition forces in Iraq. [25] In 2012 he became the first non US recipient of the USMC Semper Fidelis award [26] and in 2014 received an honorary doctorate (LLD) from the University of Bath. [27]
He is married to Liz and they have two daughters. He maintains his military links as colonel of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, and is a Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Plaisterers. [1]
General Sir John George Reith, is a retired senior British Army officer who was the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) from October 2004 to October 2007.
General John Nicholas Reynolds Houghton, Baron Houghton of Richmond, is a retired senior British Army officer and former Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) of the British Armed Forces. He was appointed CDS in July 2013, following the retirement of General Sir David Richards. He served as Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, the Green Howards in Northern Ireland during The Troubles and later became Commander of the 39th Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland. He deployed as Senior British Military Representative and Deputy Commanding General, Multi-National Force – Iraq during the Iraq War. Later, he became Chief of Joint Operations at Permanent Joint Headquarters and served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff until assuming the position of CDS. Houghton retired from the British Army in July 2016, and was succeeded as CDS by Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach.
General David Julian Richards, Baron Richards of Herstmonceux, is a retired senior British Army officer who was formerly the Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of the British Armed Forces. He succeeded Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup in this role on 29 October 2010.
General Sir Gordon Kenneth Messenger, is a retired senior Royal Marines officer who served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff from May 2016 to May 2019. As a colonel he commanded 40 Commando during the Iraq War, and led the Commando in the assault on the Al-Faw Peninsula. He served as British Commander of Task Force Helmand, during the 3 Commando Brigade deployment to Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Operation Herrick IX from 2008 to 2009.
Vice Admiral Sir Alan Michael Massey, KCB, CBE is a former senior officer in the Royal Navy who served as the Second Sea Lord.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart William Peach, is a senior Royal Air Force officer. After training as a navigator, Peach commanded IX (Bomber) Squadron and then became Deputy Station Commander RAF Bruggen. He was deployed as NATO Air Commander (Forward) in Kosovo in 2000. He went on to be Chief of Defence Intelligence in 2006, Chief of Joint Operations in 2009 and the first Commander of Joint Forces Command in December 2011 before being appointed Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in May 2013. Peach succeeded General Sir Nick Houghton as Chief of the Defence Staff on 14 July 2016. He succeeded General Petr Pavel as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee on 29 June 2018, serving as such until his retirement from NATO in June 2021.
General Sir James Rupert Everard, is a retired senior British Army officer who served as NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Lieutenant General Sir William Raoul Rollo is a former senior British Army officer.
General Sir Nicholas Patrick Carter, is a Kenyan-born former senior British Army officer who served as Chief of the Defence Staff from June 2018 to November 2021.
General Sir Richard Lawson Barrons, is a retired British Army officer. He was Commander Joint Forces Command from April 2013 until his retirement in April 2016.
Lieutenant General Sir James Benjamin "Jim" Dutton, is a retired Royal Marines officer and former Governor of Gibraltar. He held various staff positions in his early career, before commanding 40 Commando. As a brigadier, he held two high-level staff posts—the first at the Ministry of Defence in London, as Director of NATO policy, and the second as a British liaison to The Pentagon shortly after the September 11 attacks, where he was involved in the planning for the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan. A newspaper later pinpointed this as the moment when Dutton's career "took off".
General Sir Mark Alexander Popham Carleton-Smith, is a senior British Army officer. He served as Chief of the General Staff from June 2018 to June 2022, succeeding General Sir Nick Carter. He was succeeded by General Sir Patrick Sanders. He previously served as Director Special Forces and commanded 22 Special Air Service Regiment.
Lieutenant General Sir David Andrew Capewell, is a retired Royal Marines officer who served as Chief of Joint Operations from 2011 to 2015.
Lieutenant General Sir Nicholas Arthur William Pope, is a former senior British Army officer. He served as Master-General of the Ordnance from 2011 to 2013 and Deputy Chief of the General Staff from 2015 to 2019.
General Sir Patrick Nicholas Yardley Monrad Sanders, is a senior British Army officer serving as Chief of the General Staff since June 2022.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Wigston, is the senior officer in the Royal Air Force, serving as Chief of the Air Staff since 26 July 2019. He previously served as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff from 2017 to 2018, and Deputy Commander (Personnel) and Air Member for Personnel and Capability from 2018 to 2019.
Admiral Sir Benjamin John Key, is a senior Royal Navy officer. He has served as First Sea Lord since November 2021. He has commanded HM Ships Sandown, Iron Duke and Lancaster, and deployed on operations to Kosovo and Iraq. He was appointed Fleet Commander in 2016, and the Chief of Joint Operations in 2019.
Lieutenant General Robert Andrew Magowan, is a senior Royal Marines officer who currently serves as Commandant General Royal Marines and the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff.
Lieutenant General Sir Ralph William Wooddisse, is a British Army officer who serves as Commander Field Army since April 2021.
Major General Matthew John Holmes, was a British senior Royal Marines officer who served for more than three decades in the armed forces. After studying economics at the University of Exeter, he joined the Royal Marines and undertook early tours of duty to Norway, the Far East, Northern Ireland and Zimbabwe. After being deployed to Kosovo and Afghanistan, he commanded 42 Commando Royal Marines from 2006 to 2008 and was awarded a Distinguished Service Order for his leadership in Afghanistan. Holmes served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 2019 to 2021.