Speakers

James Parkin joined the Royal Navy after university in 1997, and has served on operations across the globe, including operational tours in Baghdad and Bahrain, and spent time afloat in every ocean on the planet. Rear Admiral Parkin initially specialised as a Fighter Controller, and latterly, as a Principal Warfare Officer. He has commanded at sea in every rank, including the inshore patrol vessel HMS RANGER, the Type 23 frigate HMS MONTROSE, the Fleet Amphibious Flagship HMS BULWARK, the Joint Expeditionary Force Maritime Task Group, and NATO’s Initial Follow-on Forces Group. In his most recent seagoing role, he was Commander of the UK’s Littoral Strike Group from 2018 to 2020, in which capacity he deployed worldwide, and commanded several notable joint operations overseas, including the multinational BALTIC PROTECTOR deployment to Northern Europe in 2019, and the International Maritime Security Construct (Task Force SENTINEL) in the Middle East in 2020. After a year in the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters as Assistant Chief of Staff for Joint Plans (ACOS J5), he was promoted to Rear Admiral and assumed the role of Director Develop (and as the 78th Controller of the Navy) in summer 2021, where he is responsible for designing, refining, and commissioning the Fleet of the future. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford and Kings College London, and is an alumnus of the London Business School.