Johnstone-Burt joined the
Royal Navy in 1977. Promoted to
lieutenant in January 1982, served in during the
Falklands War. He qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1983 flying
Sea Kings and
Lynx helicopters. He qualified as a principal warfare officer and served in several frigates before being appointed as first lieutenant and second-in-command of in 1991. He was appointed commanding officer of in 1994 and went on to study at the United States
Naval War College, where courses are affiliated with
Salve Regina University in
Rhode Island, taking a
Master of Arts degree in International Relations from 1996 to 1997. He went on to be Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the
Joint Helicopter Command in 2005,
Flag Officer, Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland in 2006, and Commander of the
Joint Helicopter Command in 2008 before being appointed Director of Counter Narcotics and International Organised Crime at Headquarters
International Security Assistance Force in
Kabul, Afghanistan in 2011. Johnstone-Burt was appointed a
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the
2013 New Year Honours, and
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in the
2020 Birthday Honours. In 2013, Johnstone-Burt became the
Master of the Household to the
Sovereign. In this role, he took part in the
2023 Coronation. He was also a member of the Board of Governors and Chair at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls from 2014 to 2018. He was appointed as a
Deputy Lieutenant of the
County of
Dorset on 22 August 2016; this gave him the
post-nominal letters "DL" for life. In 2025, Johnstone-Burt became a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford Centre for Corporate Reputation, an honorary position awarded to people whose work is deemed to be of high quality and relevance to the research mission of the University of Oxford. ==References==