Commander Richard Whalley

Richard Whalley has over 25 years of operational and managerial experience in the Royal Navy and is currently serving with the British Defence Staff Washington D.C. as the lead staff officer for naval logistics and personnel. Richard joined the Navy in 1989 and, after initial officer and professional training, has served in a number of Royal Navy, Fleet Auxiliary and shore units. In 1997 he was selected for further training as a Chartered Management Accountant, since then he has completed a number of appointments specialising in the planning of resources and future requirements. In addition, he served as the Logistics Officer in HMS WESTMINSTER, as a Ministerial Press Officer in the Ministry of Defence, and on operational service in Northern Ireland (1991) and Iraq (2003). He was selected for promotion to Commander in 2008 while completing the Advanced Staff and Command Course at the Joint Command and Staff College and a Masters in Defence Studies. As a Commander he has worked in Afghanistan as the lead logistics and infrastructure planner during the busy expansion of US forces into Helmand, and later in the Fleet Headquarters responsible for logistics policy and as the Chief of Staff to the head of Naval Logistics. More recently he has been employed as the Fleet Logistics Coordinator in the maritime operational headquarters and in Professional Logistics Command as the Group Logistics Commander to the United Kingdom's high-readiness Naval and Marine Task Group, routinely deploying a Naval Task Group away from the UK both East and West of Suez. Richard enjoys diving, sailing and travelling, with a particular emphasis on deep wreck and cave diving. He married Joanna in May 2014 and they currently live in Northern Virginia.