Robert Magowan

Lieutenant General Robert Andrew Magowan, CB, CBE (born 12 September 1967) is a Royal Marines officer who served as Commandant General Royal Marines from 2016 to 2017 and served as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Capability and Force Design). He is the Deputy Commander Strategic Command as of January 2020.

Robert Magowan
Magowan in 2019
Born	(1967-09-12) 12 September 1967
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Marines
Years of service	1989–
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Controller of the Navy Commandant General Royal Marines 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group
Battles/wars	Northern Ireland Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)

Military career

Educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Faversham and the University of Southampton (BSc Chemistry, 1989),[1] Magowan was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1989.[2] He became Plans Officer at Headquarters 3rd Mechanised Division in 2001 in which role he was deployed to Afghanistan and then became second-in-command of 42 Commando in which role he took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[1] He joined the Cabinet Office Assessment Staff in 2003 and the Afghan Drugs Inter-departmental Unit in 2005 before becoming commanding officer of 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group in 2006 in which role he commanded IX Battle Group in Afghanistan in 2007.[3]

Magowan became a Deputy Head in Defence Intelligence in 2009,[1] Chief of Staff to the National Contingent Commander at the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul in 2012 and Commodore, National Personnel Strategy at Navy Command Headquarters in March 2013.[4] He became Commandant General Royal Marines in May/June 2016[5] and became commander of Operation Atalanta in June 2016.[6][7] He went on to be Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Capability) and Controller of the Navy in November 2017[4] and Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Capability and Force Design) in December 2018.[8] He became Deputy Commander Joint Forces Command, renamed as Strategic Command in January 2020.[9][10] Magowan was promoted to lieutenant-general on 22 January 2020.[11][12]

Honours

In the 2005 New Year Honours, Magowan was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).[13] He was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in October 2013 Operational Honours, which were awarded for services on operations in Afghanistan for the period September 2012 to April 2013.[14] He was made a CBE "for his outstanding contribution in strengthening bonds between British forces and the Afghans".[2] On 10 October 2017 he was awarded the Commander of the Legion of Merit by General Robert Neller.[15]

Personal life

Magowan is married to his wife Charlotte and together they have two young daughters. He is a accomplished mountaineer, a keen reader of European political history and an amateur cook.[16]

References

1. "NAVFOR Somalia". European Union. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
2. "Surrey Royal Marine Brigadier awarded CBE for his work in Afghanistan". royalnavy.mod.uk. Royal Navy. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
3. Southby-Tailyour, Ewan (2009). "Three Command Brigade, Helmand, Afghanistan". Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0091926960.
4. "Senior Royal Navy appointments" (PDF). Retrieved 18 May 2016.
5. "Philip, Duke of Edinburgh". Retrieved 18 May 2016.
6. "EU appoints new operation Commander for EU NAVFOR Somalia". European Union. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
7. The Daily Telegraph (London), 2016, General Officer Appointments, The Daily Telegraph (London), 8 April 2016, Edition 1; National Edition, p.28
8. "Current admirals" (PDF). Retrieved 17 January 2019.
9. @ComdJFC_UK (19 November 2019). "Ahead of his start as Deputy Commander JFC, Major General Rob Magowan presented the 'Team of the Year' accolade at this year's Defence Intelligence Awards. Congratulations to all of the award winners. #OneJFC" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
10. "Strategic Command welcome new Deputy Commander". Strategic Command, UK. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
11. Mackie, Colin (5 December 2019). "Admirals Current December 2019" (PDF). gulabin.com. Colin Mackie. Retrieved 6 December 2019. (to be promoted): Lieutenant-General Robert A. Magowan: Deputy Commander, Joint Forces Command, January 2020
12. "No. 62915". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 February 2020. p. 2442.
13. "No. 57509". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2005. p. 5.
14. "Operational Honours and Awards List: 4 October 2013". Government of the United Kingdom. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
15. "Alamy". Alamy. US Marines Photo. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
16. "Royal Navy Biography" (PDF).

Military offices
Preceded by Martin Smith	Commandant General Royal Marines 2016–2017	Succeeded by Charles Stickland
Preceded by Paul Bennett	Controller of the Navy 2017–2018	Succeeded by Hugh Beard