Educated at
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, Barrons was commissioned as a
second lieutenant on probation as a university cadet into the
Royal Regiment of Artillery on 2 September 1977 prior to reading
Philosophy, Politics and Economics at
The Queen's College, Oxford and becoming a full-time army officer on 21 June 1980. His commission was confirmed in 1981, with seniority from 17 May 1977 and he was promoted to
lieutenant with seniority from 17 May 1979. Between 1980 and 1990, he served in various positions across Europe and the Far East as well as in a staff position at the
Ministry of Defence in London. He was promoted to
captain on 19 November 1983. and took a
master's degree in Defence Administration in 1990, after which he attended the British Army's
Staff College, Camberley, in 1991. He was sent to
Germany to take up a position as chief of staff,
11 Armoured Brigade, which then deployed to the Balkans in 1993. Barrons then served briefly as Balkans desk officer at the Directorate of Military Operations and before becoming battery commander of B Battery,
1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery from 1994 to 1996, which included a tour of duty in
Northern Ireland. After promotion, he served again in Bosnia, as
Military Assistant (MA) to the
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and then, back in the UK, as MA to the
Chief of the General Staff. Barrons' next deployment was to
Iraq in 2003 as chief of staff,
Multinational Division (South East), stationed in
Basra. Upon promotion, he was posted to
Northern Ireland, commanding
39 Infantry Brigade in
Belfast, a position he held for two years. After Northern Ireland, he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff, Commitments in 2005, with day-to-day responsibility for British Army operations. He was posted to
Baghdad, where he had responsibility for overseeing joint operations conducted by
the multinational force and the
Iraqi Army. Having served in Iraq, he returned to the UK to take up a staff post in April 2009 as chief of staff to the NATO
Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC), but the appointment was short-lived as, in October 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan at short notice to establish a force reintegration unit, part of an effort to persuade Taliban fighters to rejoin society by offering alternatives to fighting, such as jobs and training. Barrons defended the controversial scheme in interviews, saying that it was not "about buying insurgents off the battlefield" and that "the idea is that you get the whole community benefiting and turning against the insurgency". In a later interview, Barrons also said "I am absolutely convinced it can be done, and that the time is right. This is an opportunity the Afghan people aren't going to get again. Most of them realize that, and are keen to take it now". Barrons' position, as of February 2011, was as
Assistant Chief of the General Staff. In May 2011 he became
Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) in the rank of
lieutenant general. On 24 January 2013 it was announced that he was to be appointed Commander
Joint Forces Command in April 2013. In April 2016, he handed over command of Joint Forces Command to General Sir
Christopher Deverell. ==Other work==