Lieutenant Commander James Lovell Royal Navy

Lieutenant Commander James Lovell Royal Navy
SWO UW to FOST

Lieutenant Commander Lovell joined the Royal Navy as a Direct Graduate Entrant in January 2001, having attained a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Politics and International Relations at the University of DeMontfort, Leicester. Post junior Warfare officer professional training; he joined HMS KENT as Officer of the Watch in 2003, conducting infrastructure protection patrols in the Northern Arabian Gulf, following the second Gulf War, remaining with KENT as the ShipÕs Communication Officer, where he conducted patrols in the Mediterranean. On completion he joined HMS SEVERN, conducting numerous fishery protection patrols, with responsibility for the Executive function as the First Lieutenant. Following this two years in the Fishery Protection Squadron 2007, he joined the Naval Training Team, Umm Qasr Iraq. Here he had direct responsibility for the generation of Iraqi Navy patrol boats, training Command teams for operational patrols, protecting Iraqi offshore oil infrastructure.

After the completion of ICSC(M) in 2008, he qualified as a PWO in 2009 and joined HMS RICHMOND as PWO(U) to Captain ASW. He then spent 2 years as PWO(U) and then Operations Officer, in a programme that included a 7 month deployment to the Middle and Far East, including counter-piracy patrols with EUNAVFOR under Operation Atalanta. On completion of this appointment he qualified as an AWO(U) and joined SNMG2, deployed in a Turkish OHP east of suez, responsible for the force planning of the NATO counter-piracy effort under Operation Ocean Shield. Lovell joined FOST(S) in 2012 as a SWO(UW) and has been the lead in the training generation of the Royal NavyÕs Area ASW capability.

He lives in Hampshire with his wife Becky and 2 young children.