Robert Fry
| Sir Robert Fry | |
|---|---|
 Lieutenant General Sir Robert Fry |
|
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |  Royal Marines |
| Years of service | 1973–2007 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Commands held | 45 Commando 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines |
| Battles/wars | Kosovo War |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire |
Lieutenant General Sir Robert Alan Fry KCB, CBE is Executive Chairman of the McKinney Rogers Group of companies. Before joining McKinney Rogers, Fry served over 30 years on military operations from Kosovo, the Gulf and Iraq and was later a Vice President of Hewlett Packard. He remains an advisor to HP and a number of other companies in the defense and banking sectors.
He is a member the Royal United Services Institute executive council and a trustee of Help for Heroes.
Contents |
[edit] Early Career
After taking a degree in economics at the University of Bath and working for a period in commerce in New York, Fry joined the Royal Marines in 1973.[1]
Attendance at the Army Staff College was followed by tours in the Ministry of Defence and Directorate of Special Forces, a sequence punctuated in the 1986/7 academic year when he studied for an MA (Distinction) in War Studies at King's College London.
[edit] Senior Military Career
In 1989, Fry was appointed Chief of staff, HQ 3 Commando Brigade and subsequently took part in Operation Haven in Northern Iraq. This was followed by a return to the Ministry of Defence before taking command of 45 Commando in 1995. In 1997, in the rank of brigadier, he became the Director Naval Staff in the Ministry of Defence, after which he took over command of 3 Commando Brigade in 1999 and deployed to Kosovo.[2]
He was also Director of Operations in the Ministry of Defence advising the prime minister on the military strategic direction of the UK’s response to the September 11 attacks.
He was appointed Commandant General Royal Marines in 2001;[3] a year later he took up the new and concurrent job of Commander United Kingdom Amphibious Forces, in which capacity he deployed as the UK Maritime Component Commander for operations in the Gulf, completing a novel double of command of both land and maritime forces at formation level.
He assumed the post of Chief of Staff at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood in May 2002 and remained in the job throughout the planning for and conduct of operations against Iraq. He took over the job of Director of Operations in the Ministry of Defence in July 2003 which was followed by a final operational tour as Deputy Commanding General of coalition forces in Iraq.[4] He retired in 2007.[1]
[edit] Later career
Fry was a Vice President of Hewlett Packard where he ran its $1.5 billion Europe, Africa and Middle East defense business.[1] They were responsible for the IT infrastructure of the entire British military. Fry is currently executive chairman of global business consultancy McKinney Rogers.[5] As well as his duties as executive chairman, he has a business development role within the company which involves advising CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies. He is the public face of McKinney Rogers and serves as key note speaker, article writer and adviser to the public, businesses and journalists. Sir Robert Fry was an integral part of McKinney Rogers winning the Queens award for enterprise in 2010.
Fry is an established essayist[6] and has been widely published internationally (including prominent articles in the Wall Street Journal[7][8][9][10]). He is also a Visiting Professor at Reading University and a visiting fellow at Oxford University.
[edit] Awards
Early on in his career Fry was mentioned in Dispatches and was awarded the MBE. Later on he was then appointed CBE for services as commander of a multinational brigade in Kosovo in 1998.
In July 2003, he was appointed KCB for his services as Director of Operations in the MoD, and was awarded the Legion of Merit for his final operational tour as Deputy Commanding General of coalition forces in Iraq.
[edit] Family
He is married to Liz and they have two daughters. He maintains his military links as Colonel, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment and is a Freeman of the City of London.
[edit] Refererences
- ^ From BDUs to Pinstripes - and interview with Sir Robert Fry, Sept 14 2010
- ^ BBC interview with Sir Robert Fry, May 5 2002
- ^ US DoD News Briefing with Lt. Gen. Sir Robert Fry from Iraq, August 22 2006
- ^ McKinney Rogers
- ^ "End of the continental century"- Award winning essay from Sir Robert Fry
- ^ "Ex-U.K. Military Leader Pushes Europe on Defense Capability"
- ^ "A Military Leader Looks Back at Lessons of Afghanistan, Iraq"
- ^ "Fighting Wars in Cyberspace"
- ^ Civvy Street's Boardrooms Gain From Military Cuts
[edit] External links
- "World War I's Crucial Lesson for Today's Leaders", August 23 2011
- "Sun Tzu: The Best Leadership Teacher Of All Time?", August 27 2010
- Ex-servicemen manage with military precision
- Bosses must be heroes too
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert Fulton |
Commandant General Royal Marines 2001 – 2002 |
Succeeded by Anthony Milton |
| Preceded by Sir James Dutton |
Honorary Colonel, 131 Independent Commando Squadron Royal Engineers |
Succeeded by Unknown |
 |
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- 1951 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of Bath
- Alumni of King's College London
- Fellows of King's College London
- Royal Marines generals
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
- British military personnel of the Gulf War
- Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit
- Royal Navy personnel of the Iraq War
- People from Penarth
- Royal Navy personnel stubs
