Bennett entered into an undergraduate cadetship as a second lieutenant after leaving school, where the British Army would pay for his tuition fees in exchange for mandatory service. In 1991, he was commissioned as a
second lieutenant in the
Parachute Regiment. He was promoted to
first lieutenant a year later. Bennett transferred from the Parachute Regiment to the
Royal Horse Artillery in 1993, where he did a
tour of the
Bosnian War as a
forward observation officer. He was promoted to
captain in 1995. After his tour ended, Jez became a
platoon commander at
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, training officer cadets. Bennett was promoted to
major in 1999. He obtained a
master's degree in defence and went to work for the
Ministry of Defence in the Resource & Plans department. In 2005, he went back to serving in the field with the
1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. and he returned to Sandhurst as a
company commander. He left this role in 2016 to join the Ministry of Defence as Head of Capability Plans in the Finance & Military Capability department. Bennett was then chosen to be
colonel commandant of the
Royal Artillery, a post which he served between 2019-2022. In August 2019, he became Director of Capability for the British Army. He was appointed a
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the
2026 New Year Honours. == References ==