Commodore Jeremy Blunden LVO Royal Navy
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Commodore Jeremy Blunden LVO Royal Navy Jeremy Blunden joined the Royal Navy as a Warfare Officer in 1981. After initial training at the Britannia Royal Naval College and at sea, he studied Systems and Management at the City University, London, prior to his first sea appointments as the Navigating Officer of the Patrol Boat HMS Peterel and the Frigate HMS Broadsword. As a senior Lieutenant he commanded HMS peterel and the Mine Hunter HMS wilton. In 1992 he qualified as a Principal Warfare Officer, specialising in Underwater Warfare and Navigation. His specialist warfare appointments were in the Frigate HMS arrow and as the Squadron Navigating Officer of the First Frigate Squadron. Subsequently he spent two years in the USA teaching navigation and managing the Yard Patrol Craft training programme at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. On promotion to Commander in 1996, Jeremy served as the last Navigating Commander and Sailing Master of the Royal Yacht Britannia during her final two years in commission. Subsequent appointments as a Commander included serving as the Fleet Navigating Officer, as the NATO and European Defence desk officer in the Defence Diplomacy section of the Naval Staff and as the Commanding Officer of the Destroyer HMS newcastle. Promoted Captain in 2004, Jeremy served as the Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord prior to commanding the Amphibious Assault Ship HMS Bulwark. Following a term at the Royal College of Defence Studies, he served as the Assistant Director Maritime and the Assistant Head of Iraq Operations in the Operations Directorate of the Ministry of Defence. He subsequently served as the Director of the Maritime element of the Iraq Training and Assistance Mission in Baghdad in the rank of Commodore. Back in the Ministry of Defence in the Naval Staff in late 2010, Jeremy Blunden served as the Assistant Director Partnerships, responsible for taking forward the Royal Navy’s relations with other navies and the maritime industry, prior to being appointed Deputy Commander of the UK Maritime Force in October 2012. He commanded Combined Task Force 151 in 2013, leading a multinational taskforce conducting anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia. Jeremy Blunden is currently serving as Commander of Combined Task Force 150 tasked to conduct operations in collaboration with regional and other partner nations in order to suppress the exploitation of the maritime environment by those who perpetrate or enable terrorist acts. Jeremy and his wife live in Wiltshire in southern England with their two daughters and son. He is a Lieutenant of the Victorian Order and his awards include the US Legion of Merit(Officer). .