John Aitken

• Associate, Senior Research Fellow, RAND Europe, RAND Europe

John Aitken was born in Newcastle and educated locally before reading English Language and Literature at Birmingham. He joined the Royal Navy in September 1992 and volunteered for submarine service. He followed the usual career profile of courses followed by sea-going appointments, mainly in SSNs (Hunter-Killer submarines), until selected for 'Perisher' (the Submarine Command Course) which he passed in November 2005. He was Executive Officer of HMS SUPERB December 2005 – October 2008 completing a variety of operational deployments before taking command and overseeing her decommissioning as her final Commanding Officer. He then enjoyed an exchange posting with the United States Navy at COMSUBDEVRON 12 in Groton, Connecticut where he was Department Head for Mission Analysis, a fascinating job and a fantastic life experience. He was selected for promotion to Commander and for Sea-Command in 2010 and took Command of HMS TALENT in July 2011. A thoroughly enjoyable tour saw TALENT regenerate in quick time, winning the VALIANT Trophy for best submarine to undergo FOST training in 2012 before deploying on operations in the North and South Atlantic, the Mediterranean and East of Suez. After command John joined the Directing Staff of Advanced Command and Staff Course at Shrivenham in April 2014 where he taught until December 2015. He then joined the Naval Staff and worked in the International Engagements team before a six month secondment to the Cabinet Office. On promotion to Captain he moved to Navy Command HQ in Portsmouth as the Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff (Submarines) where he was the Senior Operator for the submarine force, responsible for Submarine Warfare policy matters, led the In-Service Capability Management for submarines and was Programme Director for the RN's upgrade of the Spearfish Heavy Weight Torpedo, a Government Major Programme. During this assignment he completed the Projects Leadership Programme with Cranfield University. Selected for promotion to Commodore in May 2021 he became Deputy Director Submarines in the HQ. Aside from a challenging full-time job he also found the time to graduate from the Major Projects Leadership Academy (MPLA) at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University and achieved chartership with the Nautical Institute as a Master Mariner. John was awarded an OBE in the King's Birthday Honours List in June 2024 for his "outstanding contribution to the warfighting efficiency of the Royal Navy" and retired from the Service in September 2024 whereupon he took up an appointment with Peel Ports, based in Liverpool.

• –present Associate, RAND Europe, RAND Europe

MENAFN15092026000199003603ID1111667272