Colonel Craig Renney joined the Royal Marines in 1987 and as a member of the Royal Marines Mountain leader (ML) Branch has had an extensive career in 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines. He has considerable operational experience in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Africa, Afghanistan, and Iraq – with broader global experience from multiple Royal Navy, NATO and UN deployments. He was commissioned as a Senior Corps Commission (SCC) officer in 2006, which was followed by a further tour in Afghanistan as a member of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLT) embedded with the Afghanistan National Army (ANA). On return to the UK, he led the transformation of driver training within 45 Commando Royal Marines to accommodate new and heavier fighting vehicles.

In 2008 he was initially appointed 2IC, and then shortly after OC of ML and ISTAR company in the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM). During this time, he optimised ML training, Mountain and Cold Weather Warfare and ISTAR Instructor training. In 2010 he was appointed to Navy Command Headquarters (NCHQ) as staff officer for the Royal Marines Reserve, which focussed on the generation of reservists to Op HERRICK in Afghanistan and in the development of the Future Reserves Programme.

His career since 2012 has focussed on Capability, Acquisition and Programme management. He was initially employed in Army Headquarters within the newly formed Capability Directorate Combat where he developed the first Capability Management Plan for the future Dismounted Close Combat capabilities. He then returned to NCHQ where he worked in the Land and Littoral Manoeuvre team as a capability manager for amphibious shipping and then as the Amphibious Requirements manager forward based with the delivery agent in MOD Abbey Wood. On promotion to OF4 in 2018 he was appointed as the Naval Ships Support Requirements Manager overseeing the platform and equipment requirements for the Royal Navy in-service fleet. During this time, he led the development of the Requirements function as part of Navy transformation, and in 2020 was appointed Head of the function to lead implementation and to embed the evolved service into the Navy Command Operating Model (NCOM).

In 2022 he was appointed as Head Disposal (Exports) and is the Royal Navy lead for the disposal and export of surface ships. He is responsible for the safe and successful transition of ships from the Royal Navy to International partner Navies as part of Government to Government (G2G) sales and has successfully led the transition of former HMS OCEAN to Brazil and Single Role Minehunters to (SRMH) to Ukraine and Romania. He also leads the transition of ships in disposal for commercial or MOD further use, the use of disposal hulls for Sink Exercise (SINKEX) or as a last resort, recycling. He is the Royal Navy lead for Ship Disposal (Exports) Policy.

He also remains the functional lead to the Navy Command Requirements Management function, with responsibility to the Royal Navy Capability sponsor for Requirements and Acceptance policy, and for the attribution of Requirement Managers across the Navy Command Operating Model (NCOM).

With a passion for continuous professional development, Renney holds a Master of Sciences (MSc) Degree in Programme and Project Management, and a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA). He is a Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) and member of the Association of Project Management (MAPM). He also holds a further MSc in Supply Chain and Logistics Management.

He is married with 2 young children (9 and 6), 2 grown up children (33 and 31) and a grandson. He enjoys keeping fit, the great outdoors and spending time with the family.