Reflections on the Middle East

Lieutenant General Sir John Lorimer joined the British Army in 1981 and was commissioned into The Parachute Regiment. From 1985-8, he studied Arabic and Islamic Studies at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. He served in all three regular Parachute Regiment battalions and attended the Army Staff College in 1994. This was followed by 2 years as a company commander in 1 PARA. On promotion to lieutenant colonel, he was posted to the MOD, prior to commanding 3 PARA. During his tenure of command, the Battalion deployed twice to Northern Ireland, as well as to Kuwait and Iraq in 2003.

On promotion to colonel, Lieutenant General Lorimer served at US CENTCOM and attended the Higher Command and Staff Course. He was then posted in April 2004 to the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters in the appointment of Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, responsible for current operations, prior to moving to the Plans Division, where he was responsible for Middle Eastern operational planning. In June 2005 he was selected for promotion to brigadier and command of 12 Mech Bde, taking over the Brigade in Basra, Iraq. In 2007, he also commanded 12 Mech Bde on operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

After attending the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2008, Lieutenant General Lorimer returned to Northwood, this time as Assistant Chief of Staff for current operations. He was then promoted to major general in November  2010 and served as the Chief of Defence Staff’s Strategic Communication Officer and the MOD’s operational media spokesman. In June 2011, he assumed command of 3 (UK) Div, training the UK brigades for operations in Afghanistan. In July 2013, he became Deputy Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and completed a year-long tour in Kabul. After this deployment, he became Chief of Joint Operations from October 2014 until June 2017; much of this tour was spent in theatre, particularly in North Africa and the Middle East. He then took over as the Defence Senior Adviser Middle East and North Africa in January 2018, spending over 3 years  in that role. He is due to retire from the Army in August 2021.