Once a Cadet - now a General!
OMT General Sir Richard Barrons KCB CBE ADC returns to Sandy Lodge
On Friday 28th November, Merchant Taylors' welcomed one of the most senior members of the British Armed Forces, Sir Richard Barrons (OMT 1977). Sir Richard was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1977 before reading PPE at Queen's College, Oxford. He did a Masters in Defence Administration (1990), attended the Army Staff College (1991) and the Higher Command and Staff Course (2003). In 2014 he was conferred Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by Cranfield University. Most pertinently, given our recent poignant reflections on the Centenary of the Great War, he is currently Colonel Commandant and President of the Honourable Artillery Company, in whose ranks so many OMTs gave their lives in the service of their country.
Sir Richard is now the Commander of the Joint Forces Command (JFC), the organisation which manages and allocates joint capabilities from the three Armed Services in global operations.
It is always wonderful when OMTs serving in the Forces choose to return to School to revisit their memoires of the CCF and inspire today's young Cadets, however, a surprise visit can also be anxiety-inducing, and Sir Richard's visit certainly kept the officers and cadets on their toes.
A programme was very quickly put together to showcase exactly what is done by the CCF on any given Friday; personalities were introduced, training was highlighted, real estate shown off.
The quality of the Cadets, of the displays they put together, and the effortless way the General put them at their ease, made this a special occasion. Not only could Sir Richard reflect with pleasure on his time at Taylors', he could rest at ease on seeing the robust good health of the Combined Cadet Force in which he once took part.
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