Commanding Officer

Educated at Madras College, St Andrews, Commander Staley joined the Royal Navy in 1986.

Joining initially as a Warfare Officer, on completion of his Officer Training at Britannia Royal Naval College, and following initial Fleet time at sea, he joined HMS Peterel as Navigation Officer where he was responsible for teaching navigation to cadets at Dartmouth. 

Selected for flying training in 1990, he was awarded his Wings in 1992 and graduated as an Airborne Early Warning Sea King Observer.  After 2 years of front line operations with 849 Sqn A Flt embarked in the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible (mostly in the Adriatic supporting operations over the former Yugoslavia) he graduated as a Qualified Observer Instructor and taught Air Navigation and the Air Intercept Phase at 849 Sqn Headquarters. 

Returning to sea in HMS Sutherland in 1996 as the Principle Warfare Officer (Above Water), and later the Operations Officer, he saw exercises and operations in the Baltic, Mediterranean, the South Atlantic and as far East as Singapore.

He then returned to the Fleet Air Arm fold in 2000, assuming the mantle of Senior Observer 849 Sqn B Flt and operating from both HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal culminating in operations in the Arabian Sea in the Autumn of 2001 in support of early Joint Operations into Afghanistan.

In 2002 he joined HMS Monmouth as the Executive Officer, bringing her out of refit in Scotland, through trials and operational work up. During the subsequent deployment to the Caribbean, Monmouth was both involved in counter narcotics operations and poised to support authorities during the core hurricane season. 

From 2004-05 he attended the testing but most enjoyable Canadian Advanced Command and Staff Course in Toronto before returning to the UK and assuming the appointment of Career Manager for some 380 Observers and Special Duty Officers.

Selected for promotion to Commander in 2006, he moved to the Fleet Commitments Office in Navy Command HQ, Portsmouth. For the following two years, he was responsible for the medium and long term scheduling of all Fleet surface and aviation assets including capital ships for operational work ups and Task Group deployments. 

As part of the NATO led Iraqi Armed Forces Advisory and Training team, Commander Staley completed a 4 month operational tour in Baghdad at the end of 2008 before attending Commanding Officer Designates Course. 

He assumed command of HMS York in May 2009 and over the last 2 years has seen operations in the North and South Atlantic, the Southern Ocean, the Pacific, the Caribbean, and most recently in the Mediterranean  off Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya where he undertook humanitarian aid delivery and extraction of entitled personnel during intense fighting ashore.