Lieutenant Colonel J W Dowd Royal Marines

Commanding Officer Royal Marines Reserve Merseyside

Jon Dowd joined the Royal Marines as a University Cadetship entrant in 1990 and read Civil Engineering at Bristol University. He undertook Young Officer training with the September ’93 batch and, on passing out in 1994, joined 45 Commando Group Royal Marines (45 Cdo Gp RM) in Kuwait.

His early years in the Corps were spent in Rifle Troop, Biathlon Team, Anti Tank Troop and Fleet Standby Rifle Troop (FSRT) commands within 45 Cdo Gp RM, and as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) with 601 Tactical Air Control Party (TACP). Much of this time was spent abroad, including op tours in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. He also completed Junior Command and Staff Course at the Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) Shrivenham.

After Norwegian language training, he completed the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Forsvarets Høgskole in Oslo. Subsequently he commanded O Squadron, Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines (FPGRM, now renamed 43 Cdo RM), conducting nuclear security duties. Much of this role was based on Close Quarter Battle (CQB) techniques developed by the USMC and was one of the forerunners to Modern Urban Combat (MUC). He also led a squadron cross training deployment to Jamaica with a section of reservists attached. Thereafter he was seconded to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, the UK’s corps-level command in NATO, then based in Germany, as a G5 planner.

On promotion to Lieutenant Colonel he fulfilled staff roles in Land and Littoral Manoeuvre (LLM) at Navy Command Headquarters (NCHQ), as the Executive Officer (XO) to DCOM Army within the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan (NTMA) in Kabul and in Navy Commitments in the Maritime Operations Centre, Northwood (alongside the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ)). He assumed command of Royal Marines Reserve Merseyside in September ’13.

He has continued to keep on the move with the Corps and has (as yet) not settled down. He is a great fan of the outdoors, in particular the mountains and winter sports, having represented the Navy at biathlon, snowboard and telemark. He enjoys socialising with friends over good food and the occasional whisky.