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Commodore Gus Carnie

Naval Attache to the United States
Royal Navy

Known as ‘Gus’, Commodore Carnie is married to Samantha and they have two daughters, Beth and Ella.
Commodore Carnie wanted to join the Navy from thirteen and achieved this when he was sixteen, initially joining HMS RALEIGH in 1992. He was fortunate enough to be ‘spotted’ and sponsored to go back firstly to college for A-Levels and then to university before joining Britannia Royal Naval College in 1997. He initially followed his first love, driving ships, navigating HMS HURWORTH (MCMV) before a chance encounter saw him selected for flying training in 2001 where he qualified as a Lynx helicopter pilot. Deploying predominantly to the Gulf region, he served in HMS MARLBOROUGH (T23) for OP TELIC (Iraq), HMS GLOUCESTER (T42) for OP AQUILLA (Indian Ocean) and OP HIGHBROW (evacuations from Beirut). As Flight Commander in HMS CAMPBELTOWN (T22) he once again deployed to OP TELIC and OP CALASH in the Indian Ocean, the highlight of which being two hostage rescues.
In June 2008 he was selected as the Military Assistant to the Head of British Defence Staff in Washington DC. He then completed an OP HERRICK (Afghanistan) deployment as Chief of Staff to the UK Joint Aviation Group, embedded in the United States Marnie Corps (III MAW), before re-joining 815 NAS as the Senior Pilot in 2013.
In July 2016 he took Command of the (Lynx) Wildcat Maritime Force. Highlights included retiring the mighty Lynx Maritime Attack helicopter after 40 years of service and delivery of the final Wildcat Maritime Attack helicopter to the RN to commence worldwide deployments.
On promotion to Captain in March 2019 he deployed to Kabul as a Senior Advisor to the Afghan National Police. Overseeing the wholescale professionalisation of the police force, he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Operational Honours List. He then completed a short appointment at the Military Aviation Authority before being selected as the First Sea Lord’s ‘right hand man’ in November 2021 as Military Assistant and Principal Staff Officer.
Between 2023-2024 Commodore Carnie attended the Royal College of Defence Studies, the Ministry of Defence’s premier professional training course.
Outside work, Commodore Carnie is a motorsports enthusiast and a current Adult British Gymnastics Champion in Acrobatic Gymnastics.

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