John Lorimer (British Army officer)

Lieutenant General Sir John Gordon Lorimer, KCB, DSO, MBE (born 27 November 1962) is a senior British Army officer.

For the 18th-century British doctor, see John Lorimer (doctor).

Sir John Gordon Lorimer
Lorimer in 2017
Born (1962-11-27) 27 November 1962
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1981 – present
RankLieutenant General
Commands heldChief of Joint Operations
3rd Mechanised Division
12th Mechanized Brigade
Battles/warsIraq War
War in Afghanistan
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Member of the Order of the British Empire

Early life

The son of Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Lorimer, he was born in 1962.[1] He was educated at Marlborough College, an independent school in Marlborough, Wiltshire, from 1976 to 1981.[2] He studied Arabic and Islamic Studies at Pembroke College, Cambridge.[1][2]

Military career

Lorimer was commissioned into the Parachute Regiment on 11 December 1982.[3] He was promoted to lieutenant on 11 December 1984, to captain on 11 December 1988 and to major on 30 September 1994.[4][5][6] After serving in Northern Ireland,[7] he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 June 1999 and to colonel on 30 June 2003.[8][9] Lorimer was appointed Commander of 12th Mechanized Brigade in June 2005 and was deployed with his brigade to Iraq later that year.[10] Promoted to brigadier on 31 December 2005,[11] he was deployed to Afghanistan as commander of Task Force Helmand in April 2007.[12]

Promoted to major general on 23 November 2010, Lorimer was appointed as the Chief of the Defence Staff's Strategic Communications Officer.[13] He was appointed General Officer Commanding 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division on 6 June 2011.[14] Promoted to lieutenant general on 9 July 2013, he was appointed Deputy Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).[15][16][17]

Lorimer handed over his responsibilities of Deputy ISAF commander to Lieutenant General Carsten Jacobson in June 2014[18] and became Chief of Joint Operations in January 2015.[19] He took over as the Defence Senior Advisor to the Middle East in January 2018.[20][21]

Decorations

Lorimer was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1997 Birthday Honours.[22] He was appointed Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on 7 March 2008 for service in Afghanistan the previous year.[23] He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2016 Birthday Honours.[24] He was granted permission to wear the United States' Legion of Merit in the Degree of Officer, awarded to him "in recognition of meritorious, gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Afghanistan", in the April 2017.[25][26]

References
  1. "Afghanistan lecture". News. King's College London. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  2. "Politics Society: General Lorimer (OM)". Marlborough College. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  3. "No. 49265". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 February 1983. p. 2218.
  4. "No. 49987". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 January 1985. p. 199.
  5. "No. 51609". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 January 1989. p. 331.
  6. "No. 53807". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 October 1994. p. 13867.
  7. Campaigning and Generalship Seminars Archived 10 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Oxford University, February 2011
  8. "No. 55543". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 July 1999. p. 7303.
  9. "No. 56986". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 July 2003. p. 8126.
  10. "Basra statement from Brigadier John Lorimer". The Guardian. 20 September 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  11. "No. 57862". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 January 2006. p. 5.
  12. "Shura held in Sangin District Centre yesterday". NATO. 13 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  13. "No. 59611". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 November 2010. p. 22517.
  14. Service Appointments The Times, 8 April 2011
  15. Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  16. "NATO welcomes Lieutenant General John Lorimer as Deputy Commander ISAF". ISAF. July 2013. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  17. "No. 60563". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 July 2013. p. 13500.
  18. ISAF welcomes new deputy commander
  19. "British Paras form elite force with US". Daily Express. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  20. "General Sir John Lorimer in Lebanon, supporting LAF". British Embassy Beirut. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  21. "General Sir John Lorimer in Dubai, supporting weapons sales". DSAME_DEfence. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  22. "No. 54794". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 1997. p. 6.
  23. "No. 58633". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 March 2008. p. 3612.
  24. "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B3.
  25. "No. 61908". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 April 2017. p. 8516.
  26. "General Orders No. 2018–33" (PDF). Washington, DC: Headquarters Department of the Army. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2020.

Media related to John G. Lorimer at Wikimedia Commons

Military offices
Preceded by
James Everard		 General Officer Commanding the 3rd Mechanised Division
2011–2013		 Succeeded by
James Cowan
Preceded by
Nick Carter		 Deputy Commander, ISAF
2013–2014		 Succeeded by
Carsten Jacobson
Preceded by
Sir David Capewell		 Chief of Joint Operations
2015–2017		 Succeeded by
Tim Fraser
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