Deputy Commander UK Strategic Command
Tom spent his early career with The Royal Green Jackets and The Rifles on operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan – including with 4 RIFLES on Op TELIC 10 in Iraq and commanding 5 RIFLES Battlegroup on Op HERRICK 15 in Afghanistan - as well as operational and strategy posts at PJHQ and in the Ministry of Defence. For the past 10 years or so he has focused on how the Army and Defence can make better use of its data and information, whether in supporting traditional warfighting; running the business of Defence more productively; or employed as a weapon in its own right - especially in the context of ‘sub-threshold’ or ‘grey zone’ competition.
In 2014 he formed and commanded the Army’s 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade (1 ISR Bde), created to integrate the Army’s intelligence collection and exploitation capabilities, for which he was elevated to CBE. In 2017, after a year as the Army’s Operations Officer (ACOS Ops), he developed the Information Manoeuvre concept to integrate the Army’s information-centric capabilities.
In 2018, in his next post as GOC Force Troops Command, on promotion to Major General, he led 30,000 of the British Army’s specialist soldiers delivering Information Manoeuvre and Theatre Enablement. The formation pioneered the Army’s response to a new era of great power competition below the threshold of conflict, leading to its redesignation as 6th (UK) Division with a focus on unconventional warfare.
In 2019 he took up a newly created post in Defence Digital, as Director of Military Digitisation, to accelerate UK Defence’s adoption and exploitation of data and digital technologies. He led development of Defence’s Digital Proposition in the Integrated Review, based on the delivery of a singular, secure, modern Digital Backbone and the development of a federated Defence software enterprise (the Digital Foundry, including the Defence AI Centre), and was responsible for delivering the Digital Transformation portfolio.
In May 2022, Tom assumed the role of Deputy Commander Strategic Command, on promotion to Lieutenant General, where he is responsible for overseeing Multi Domain Integration; coherent development of the Cyber domain; and the day-to-day running of HQ UKStratCom, amongst a wide range of other duties.
Tom has a broad variety of extracurricular roles, including Assistant Colonel Commandant of The Rifles; Honorary Colonel of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry; and President of Infantry Football. He is also an Advisory Board member of Nimbus Ninety and a Trustee of Heropreneurs. Tom is married with two young daughters