Commander Rory Armstrong

Rory joined the Royal Navy in 2001 and over a resoundingly unspectacular career has variously hunted WW2 mines, Bosnian war criminals, Middle Eastern drug runners and promotion; often without success. He has qualified as a Minewarfare and Clearance Diving Officer (MCDO) and Principal Warfare Officer (PWO) fulfilling seagoing assignments in mine countermeasures vessels (MCMVs) and Type 23 frigates. Staff roles recently include MOD but also feature 1-Star deployed, 3-Star Joint and 4-Star single Service HQs.

Junior warfare officer assignments included service as Gunnery Officer in a Hunt Class MCMV and an operational tour to Bosnia Herzegovina on Op OCULUS. Upon qualification as an MCDO a period as Operations Officer in further Hunt Class ships saw deployments to the Gulf and to a NATO task group conducting historic ordnance disposal operations in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Subsequently, an assignment to MOD’s Joint IED Analysis Centre centred around intelligence-related contribution to Op HERRICK. Rory then undertook advanced minewarfare training before serving on the staff of the UK Maritime Component Commander in Bahrain with responsibility for coordinating activities of the UK’s MCM Force in the Middle East.

On completion of PWO training, assignment to HMS KENT followed, most notably as Operations Officer on an Op KIPION deployment to the Middle East. This featured a prolonged period within FS CHARLES DE GAULLE’s carrier task group combating Daesh in Iraq and Syria during which KENT held the Principal Warfare Commander function for anti-submarine operations.

On return from sea Rory completed a role in the UK’s Permanent Joint HQ in the current operations division as desk officer for the Broader Middle East. This included particular responsibility for establishing a capacity building initiative in Saudi Arabia under Op CROSSWAYS. He then moved to Army HQ heading the policy pillar of the Defence EOD & Search Branch (DEODS). Rory qualified as an IED disposal operator before commanding Fleet Diving Group between 2020 and 2021, delivering Fleet Diving Squadron’s expeditionary maritime EOD outputs.

Since promoting to Cdr in 2021 Rory has completed staff roles in NCHQ as Dir FGen’s MCM Capability lead and to MOD Security Policy & Operations as maritime desk officer within the Counter-Terrorism and UK Operations division. He was selected in 2023 for command of the Diving & Threat Exploitation Group (DTXG).

Originally from Kirkcudbright in Southwest Scotland and a graduate of the University of Glasgow, Rory is now exiled South. Married to Katharine, a serving naval officer and with three boys, the family divides its time between work locations and home in Somerset, resulting in a very confused dog