John joined the Royal Navy as a 15-year-old boy entrant at HMS Ganges in 1968 and left in 1992 as a Lieutenant, with ten years’ service as an Instructor Officer. His sea-going ships in the Radio Electrical branch were HMS Bulwark, HMS Falmouth and HMS Kent. Having obtained higher national professional qualifications, and a Cert Ed from Garnett College in 1982, his appointments as an Instructor Officer were HMS Sultan, HMS Mercury, NATO HQ Brussels and HMS Collingwood. As a Schoolie he taught Electronics, Electrotechnology, Telecommunications, and later specialised in Information Systems. On leaving the Navy, he gained a BA (Hons) in Social Policy and a PhD in Economics at the University of York, becoming a Research Fellow in Health Economics (Research Publications). He is widely published and has over 2,000 citations of his scientific papers. Now fully retired, he writes and publishes military and family biographies and a takes the lead role in sourcing, editing and publishing material for the RNIOA.