James Dutton

Lieutenant General Sir James Benjamin "Jim" Dutton, (born 21 February 1954) is a retired Royal Marines officer and former Governor of Gibraltar.

He held various staff positions in his early career, before commanding 40 Commando.

As a brigadier, he held two high-level staff posts—the first at the Ministry of Defence in London, as Director of NATO policy, and the second as a British liaison to The Pentagon shortly after the September 11 attacks, where he was involved in the planning for the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan.

After the planning for the invasion, Dutton took command of 3 Commando Brigade, which was already serving in Afghanistan.

Dutton was born on 21 February 1954, to Edgar and Aileen Dutton.

He was educated at The King's School, Chester, then an all-boys private school.

He studied systems and management at City University London, where he gained a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree.

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.

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.

As a brigadier, Dutton served at the Ministry of Defence as Director, NATO policy, a senior staff post, prior to attending the Royal College of Defence Studies.

He was pulled off the course before completion and seconded to The Pentagon in Washington, DC to act as liaison between the British Chief of the Defence Staff and the American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States.

While seconded to The Pentagon, Dutton was involved in the joint American and British planning for the subsequent "War on Terror".

The Times called this assignment the moment Dutton's career "took off".

"Keen" to command the Royal Marines in action in Afghanistan, Dutton took command of 3 Commando Brigade in 2002 and deployed to Afghanistan in command of 1700 personnel, succeeding Roger Lane.

The replacement was controversial and led to speculation that it was politically motivated by Lane's criticism of the Ministry of Defence and public contradiction of Geoff Hoon, then Secretary of State for Defence, over the readiness of troops.

In 2002, Dutton was given the honorary appointment of Aide-de-camp to the Queen.

In 2003, he led the brigade into the start of Iraq War, supported by units from the British Army as well as the United States Marine Corps, making Dutton the first British officer to command American troops since the Second World War.

He commanded his men through heavy resistance from Iraqi forces in the early days of the war.

As a general officer, he served as Commandant General Royal Marines, the professional head of the Royal Marines and a dual-hatted appointment with Commander UK Amphibious Forces, for two years.

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.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in October 2003.

With the brigade, Dutton also undertook cold-weather training in Norway in 2004.

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).

While in this post, Dutton returned to Iraq to command Multi-national Division (South-East) in 2005, where he attracted media attention through outspoken remarks alleging Iranian support for the insurgents in Iraq.

His last field post, as a lieutenant general, was as Deputy Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

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).

He held the position from 2008 to 2009, during the peak of the Taliban insurgency, and assisted American General Stanley A. McChrystal, then commander of ISAF, in redesigning the military strategy to combat the insurgency.

Dutton retired from the military in 2010.

He was later appointed Governor of Gibraltar, taking up office on 6 December 2013; he retired early from the post, in September 2015.