James Dutton (Royal Marines officer)

Dutton was born on 21 February 1954, He is married to Elizabeth (née Waddell). The couple have one son, who is also an officer in the Royal Marines, and one daughter. Dutton lists his interests as sailing and running. ==Early military career==

Dutton originally applied to join the British Army but failed the selection process. He applied to join, and was commissioned into, the Royal Marines in 1972. He was promoted to acting lieutenant in 1975, before being granted the substantive rank in 1976, with seniority from October 1975. He served as a signals officer in the Falklands War and, after holding a variety of staff positions in the junior ranks, was promoted to major in 1990. In 1996 he assumed command of 40 Commando, in which position he served on manoeuvres in Asia and South Africa. "Keen" The brigade had a tour of duty in Iraq in early 2003, at the very beginning of the Iraq War. Dutton led 3 Commando, as well as supporting units from the Royal Engineers, 7 Armoured Division, 16 Air Assault Brigade along with troops from multiple other nations, including US Marines, the first time American troops had been under the operational command of a British officer since the Second World War. Royal Marines from 40 Commando under Dutton's overall command, along with United States Navy SEALs, secured oil fields on the Al-Faw Peninsula to prevent them from being burned in the first days of the ground operation, after which 40 Commando and others from 3 Commando Brigade moved up the peninsula and took the port city of Umm Qasr, where they encountered resistance into the fifth day of the ground campaign. Dutton also commanded the brigade through heavy fighting on the outskirts of Basra and commented that the fighting had been more intense there than predicted, saying "the planning assumption had always been that the advancing coalition forces would simply sweep past Basra and it would implode by itself". Dutton's calmness during the invasion prompted journalist Tim Butcher, who reported on the war while attached to 3 Commando Brigade, to describe him as "a lean, thinking man with none of the tub-thumping machismo of some officers" and "coldly professional in his job". While still under Dutton's command in late 2003, 3 Commando Brigade conducted the Royal Marines' first visit to Slovenia, prior to the country's accession to the European Union and NATO, for alpine warfare training led by Slovenian troops and culminating in the five-day Exercise Royal Chamois. With the brigade, Dutton also undertook cold-weather training in Norway in 2004. In 2002, Dutton was given the honorary appointment of Aide-de-camp to the Queen. ==High command==

Dutton attained general officer status with promotion to major general on 4 May 2004, and was appointed to the double-hatted post of Commandant General Royal Marines (CGRM) and Commander UK Amphibious Forces (COMUKAMPHIBFOR). He relinquished CGRM/COMUKAMPHIBFOR in June 2006, succeeded by Major General Garry Robison, taking a staff post as Chief of Staff (Capability), before appointment to Chief of Staff (Operations). In 2005, he deployed to Basra, Iraq, taking command of Multi-national Division (South-East). While there, he was outspoken on the subject of improvised explosive devices, responsible for many coalition casualties, and accusing neighbouring Iran of aiding, or failing to prevent, the smuggling of munitions across the border into Iraq. Dutton added "I simply don't know whether this is Iranian government policy or whether this is simply groups who are using Iran for their own purposes and not being controlled". Having been promoted to lieutenant general in November 2008, Dutton succeeded Army Lieutenant General Jonathon Riley as Deputy Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, a position he occupied until November 2009. During his tenure, the insurgency in Afghanistan peaked. Dutton helped American General Stanley A. McChrystal, then overall commander of troops in the country, formulate a new strategy to combat the insurgency, which included an increase in the number of troops. at the Gibraltar Parliament Upon his return from Afghanistan, Dutton wrote an article for The Guardian newspaper, in which he opined that the NATO-led forces in the country were making a difference and the situation was improving, but that the Afghan government still required assistance. He argued that more troops did not necessarily mean more violence, saying that "experience shows that after an initial spike as the insurgents are cleared out, violence reduces to much lower levels" and that "providing a sense of security depends on much more than physical troop presence, but it has to start with that. We need sufficient troops to protect the people and convince them that Afghan government control (supported by [ISAF] for the moment) is sufficient to prevent the return of the insurgents. Dutton retired from active service on 3 May 2010. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours. ==Civilian career==

After retiring from the Royal Marines in 2010, Dutton joined Bechtel Corporation as an operations manager, dealing with issues in the Middle East, and went on to become the company's programme director for Gabon in 2011. After three years with Bechtel, he was appointed governor of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, and took office on 6 December 2013. On 26 May 2015 it was announced that Dutton would relinquish the post early. Dutton resigned effectively on 28 September 2015, concluding his civilian career working with the British Foreign Office. Dutton cited that his resignation was due to his frustration over the British Government's lack of action towards the Spanish aggression in Gibraltar's sovereign waters, his disenchantment with the largely ceremonial office of Governor (later denied) and his personal inability to act on these events. With Dutton's leaving of office, his Deputy Governor, Alison MacMillan, was sworn in as interim Governor of Gibraltar on the same day as his official departure. Mrs MacMillan had already served as interim Governor, doing so when Sir Adrian Johns resigned in 2013. It was announced on 1 October 2015 by the Foreign Office that Lieutenant General Ed Davis would be succeeding Dutton as Governor of Gibraltar effective 2016. On 5 August 2016, Dutton was appointed a Knight of the Order of St John by Queen Elizabeth II. ==References==