Ian Gardiner

Keynote Speaker and Author        

 Ian Gardiner was educated at Fettes College and commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1968.  He fought in the Dhofar War in Oman from 1973 to 1975, where he was decorated with the Omani Distinguished Service Medal for Gallantry.  He also commanded a rifle company in 45 Commando Royal Marines in the Falklands War in 1982.  From 1994 to1996 he commanded 40 Commando Royal Marines, which included his fourth operational tour in Northern Ireland. He has also been the Royal Marines Equerry to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and, in 1997, graduated from the Royal College of Defence Studies. 

His final appointment was Secretary to the Military Committee at NATO Headquarters in Brussels where he was involved in the political/strategic direction of the Kosovo conflict.  He left the Royal Marines in 2001 in the rank of Brigadier.  He is now a keynote speaker on leadership, and an author of military history. He also hosts on the Royal Scotsman Train.    

His first book, In the Service of the Sultan, a first hand account of the Dhofar War, was published in 2006.  This is currently being translated into Arabic. His second book, The Flatpack Bombers, telling the story of the first strategic bombing raids in history in 1914, was published last month. He is now working on his third book which will describe a Royal Marine's experiences in the Falklands War.

Ian Gardiner was Chief Executive of the Scottish SPCA from 2001 to 2004.  In 2006, he was appointed the Honorary Colonel of the Royal Marines Reserve in Scotland and, in 2007, he was elected to the Council of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. He is also currently the President of the Old Fettesians Association, and a Member of the Professional Speakers' Association.

  

   July 2009