Blackburn was appointed to his first command, the
minesweeper , in 1972. and went on to become commanding officer of the destroyer and
captain D3
Squadron in 1987,
commodore on
Clyde and Naval Base Commander Clyde in 1990 and commanding officer of the
frigate as well as captain of the
2nd Frigate Squadron in 1992. After that Blackburn became head of the
British Defence Staff and defence
attaché in
Washington, D.C. in 1994 and
chief of Staff to the
commander-in-chief Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe,
Naples in 1997. On leaving the
Royal Navy Blackburn became
Master of the Household, in which office he served from 2000 to 2005. He was a member of the
Pensions Appeal Tribunal from 2005, chairman of
the Marine Society, the
Sea Cadets from 2006 and
St John Ambulance London from 2006, as well as deputy chairman of the
Royal Yachting Association from 2007. Blackburn was appointed as a
Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in 1978, and promoted to
Knight Commander of the same Order in 2004. He was also appointed as
Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1999. ==References==