Steven P. Cass is a retired warrant officer 1 of the

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 ...

. From 2013 to 2017, he was the

Warrant Officer of the Naval Service The Warrant Officer to the Royal Navy (WORN) (previously known as the Warrant Officer of the Naval Service) is the most senior warrant officer and rating of the Royal Navy. The person holding this appointment's main responsibility is to act as a c ...

(now Warrant Officer of the Royal Navy) and, therefore, the most senior

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

of the Royal Navy. He is the first person from the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

and the second person overall to hold the appointment.

Early life

Cass is from

Porthleven Porthleven () is a town, civil parish and fishing port near Helston, Cornwall, England. The most southerly port in Great Britain, it was a harbour of refuge when this part of the Cornish coastline was infamous for wrecks in the days of sail. The ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. He was educated at Helston Community College, a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map shee ...

, Cornwall. He left school at 17 to join the

Military career

In 1986, Cass joined the

of the Royal Navy as an air engineering mechanic second class. He spent his early years with

820 Naval Air Squadron 820 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier-based squadron flying the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 in an Anti-Submarine role from RNAS Culdrose. The Squadron was formed at RNAS Gosport on 3 April 1933 with the transferral of the F ...

based at

RNAS Culdrose Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (RNAS Culdrose, also known as HMS ''Seahawk''; ICAO: EGDR) is a Royal Navy airbase near Helston on the Lizard Peninsula of Cornwall UK, and is one of the largest helicopter bases in Europe. Its main role is ser ...

. In 1988, he undertook a six-month tour of the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

on board . He completed the artificer course in 1991. In 1994, he was serving with

771 Naval Air Squadron 771 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm was formed on 24 May 1939 at Lee-on-Solent as a Fleet Requirements Unit with 14 Fairey Swordfish TSR biplanes. The Squadron carried out various exercises with ships and provided towed targets for naval a ...

. In 2005, Cass was promoted to warrant officer 2 and appointed senior maintenance rating of 700M Naval Air Squadron. In 2008, he was promoted to the rank of warrant officer 1. From 2009 to 2011, he was attached to

AgustaWestland AgustaWestland was an Anglo-Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica (now known as Leonardo). It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian multinational company, when Finmeccanica ...

as the "structural integrity engineering authority responsible for the safety and airworthiness of all Merlin’s across the

MOD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

and around the world". From 2011 to 2013, he served as base warrant officer of RNAS Culdrose. During this time, he was also President of the station's warrant officers' and senior rates' mess. In July 2013, Cass was awarded the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

, receiving it from Vice Admiral

David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, (born 31 March 1938) is a British politician. Elected as Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Peebles, followed by Tweeddale, Ettrick, and Lauderdale, he served as the final leade ...

in a ceremony in September. In December 2013, he was appointed

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cass, Steve Living people Royal Navy sailors Sailors from Cornwall People from Porthleven Warrant Officers to the Royal Navy Year of birth missing (living people)