Portsmouth - HMS King Alfred

Military experience

He joined the Royal Navy in 1978 and, after training at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, his early service included appointments to HMS Battleaxe where he completed a South Atlantic deployment, HMS Vigilant conducting patrols in Northern Ireland, HMS Fife and HMS Orkney.

Kevin qualified as a Principal Warfare Officer in 1989, specialising in Communications and Electronic Warfare (CEW), and served in HMS London as Principal Warfare Officer (CEW) during the Gulf War in 1991. Appointments to HMS Dryad Tactical Procedures Group and HMS Fearless as Operations Officer followed before joining the Staff of Flag Officer Surface Flotilla as Surface Warfare Officer (CEW) in 1995.

On promotion to Commander in 1998, Kevin served in the Directorate of Operational Requirements in the Ministry of Defence as the desk officer responsible for surface ship communications. He subsequently served as the Commander responsible for Communications training at the Maritime Warfare School before enjoying two years in command of the Special Communications Unit.

In 2006 he was appointed to the Naval Headquarters as the Lead Planner to the Assistant Chief of Staff (C4ISTAR) to Commander-in-Chief Fleet.

During his time as a Commander, Kevin has undertaken two operational tours. In 2003 he went to Iraq to join the staff of CJTF7 as a strategic communications planner. More recently he enjoyed a period in Bahrain as the Lead Plans Officer to the UK Maritime Component Commander.

Kevin was appointed in command of HMS King Alfred in May 2010. He lives in Southsea, Hampshire with his wife, Joann, and has three children. He is Chairman of United Services Portsmouth Rugby Football Club.