At the end of January Cdre Gary Doyle RN took up post as Naval Regional Commander for Northern England and the Isle of Man. He succeeded outgoing Commander, Cdre Dickie Baum. Earlier this month Cdre Doyle visited NW RFCA Headquarters in Liverpool and met with key staff including the Chairman, Col Nick Williams, and Chief Executive, Col Mark Underhill.
Born in Liverpool, Cdre Doyle joined the Royal Navy as a Seaman Officer. Qualifying as a Ships’ Diver his early appointments included the frigate HMS SIRIUS, the Falklands Island Patrol Vessel HMS PROTECTOR, the carrier HMS HERMES and the experimental diving support ship HMS CHALLENGER.
A naval Observer by profession he served in 815 and 829 Squadrons and as a member of the flight in HMS PENELOPE and as Flight Commander in HMS AVENGER. Qualifying as a Surface Principle Warfare Officer (Underwater) he was awarded the Wilkinson Sword of Honour for best overall student of the year; he subsequently served in the Type 42 Destroyers HMS SOUTHAMPTON and HMS MANCHESTER. He has commanded the Mine Countermeasures Vessel HMS BROCKLESBY and the Air Defence Destroyer HMS SOUTHAMPTON, the latter being involved in Operation Oracle in the Middle East, the response to 9/11. He has also served as the Chief of Staff of the UK/NL Amphibious Task Group.
His UK Staff appointments have ranged from the strategic to the tactical level within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Naval Command Headquarters at both Northwood and Portsmouth. At the Strategic/Operational level within the MoD he served within the Directorate of Strategic Plans and the Directorate of Naval Operations. In the former Directorate he was part of a small team that developed the UK’s strategic military plans and drafted the strategic and operational level directives. As a singleton he also acted as the secretary to the UK’s cross-government, MoD Chaired, Operational Tasking Group. In the latter Directorate he acted as the Directorate Warfare Officer the ‘primus inter pares’ staff officer charged with the oversight of the output and advisor to the Director on Maritime Capability Issues. During this time he operated as part of the MoD Operational Planning team for the Invasion of Iraq.
At the Operational level he served as the Commander (Air) within the Directorate of Naval Personnel with responsibility for the career management of the Fleet Air Arm Officer cadre. This was followed by an appointment as Director and Chairman of the Fleet Capability Integration Group (Aviation) responsible for the overall strategic direction and generation of Fleet Air Arm assets, including safety, standards and practices, operational airworthiness, training and capability. This period included the implementation of the Haddon-Cave operational airworthiness recommendations for the Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm) and the deployment of the Sea King Air Surveillance Helicopter to Afghanistan.
A graduate of the United Kingdom’s Advanced Command and Staff Course, he was awarded a Masters Degree in Defence and International Studies from King’s College London. Captain Doyle joined Allied Command Transformation in the USA in Aug 2010. Serving there as the United Kingdom’s National Liaison Officer he was elected by his contemporaries to serve as the Dean of the National Liaison Representatives from 33 countries for two terms. He joined CNPS as DACOS (Branch Management) in Jan 2014.
On 27 Jan 2015 Captain Doyle was promoted to the rank of Commodore and took up his post as the Naval Regional Commander for Northern England and the Isle of Man.
He lives with his Wife, Christina, a company director delivering civilian education qualifications to members of the Armed Forces in Liverpool. They have two children both of whom decided to remain in the United States to work. His hobbies include enjoying his Private Pilot’s License, Golf, History and renovating their flood damaged home in Somerset!
