Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir Ian David Graham Garnett, (born 27 September 1944) is a retired

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer. He served as the

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

of the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

from 2005 to 2008.

Naval career

Born in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, Garnett joined the Royal Navy in 1962. He served in HM Ships ''London'', ''Beachampton'' and the Royal Yacht ''Britannia''. Later he joined

814 Naval Air Squadron 814 Naval Air Squadron or 814 NAS, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, is a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It is currently equipped with the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 anti-submarine warfare helicopter and is based at Royal Naval Air Stati ...

on board . He then served on exchange with the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

on board before flying Sea King helicopters in HM Ships ''Tiger'' and ''Blake'' and then became Operations Officer in . In 1978 Garnett became the deputy director (RN) of the Joint Maritime Operations Training School and then took command of , a Type 21 Frigate. In 1983 he became assistant director (Ships) in the Operational Requirements Division of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. He went on to be Commanding Officer of the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

as well as Captain of the 4th Frigate Squadron in 1986, and then moved on to lead the Royal Navy Presentation Team from 1988. In 1989 Garnett became Captain Naval Operational Command Systems and then Director of Operational Requirements (Sea Systems). In 1993 he was made

Flag Officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

, Naval Air Command and in 1995 he became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic for

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. In February 1999 Garnett was appointed Chief of Joint Operations at the

Permanent Joint Headquarters The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London. The Permanent Joint Headquar ...

and in September 2001 he became

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander ...

Post-navy career

Garnett retired from the Royal Navy in December 2004, and from 5 January 2005 until 4 January 2008 was Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies. He was appointed

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km²) and was one of the Royal Navy's main faciliti ...

in 2005. He is currently chairman of the Royal Navy Club of 1765 & 1785 (United 1889). He is currently President of the Type 21 Club Association of RN Amazon Class Frigates 1971 – 1994.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Garnett, Ian 1944 births Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Living people Military personnel from Surrey People educated at Canford School People from Surrey Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Falklands War