Commander Jerry Ovens has taken over from Commander Martin Roper as “The Commander” and therefore as second-in-command of Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose.

Commander Ovens joined the Royal Navy in 1978 as a Warfare Officer and in the early part of his career he served in the Baltic, Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean in HM Ships Wolverton, London, Yarmouth and Euryalus and also gained a degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Bristol University.

In 1983 he began training as an Observer at RNAS Culdrose, specialising in Anti-Submarine Warfare, and joined 814 Naval Air Squadron as his first front-line Seaking squadron in 1985. After serving as an instructor on 706 Naval Air Squadron, he undertook the Principal Warfare Officer Course with a subsequent appointed to the destroyer HMS Cardiff. Whilst in this ship he was responsible for the attack and destruction of 3 Iraqi patrol boats during the First Gulf War of 1991.

In 1992 he returned to aviation at RNAS Culdrose as the Senior Observer of 706 Naval Air Squadron and in 1994 he took command of the Mine Hunter, HMS Quorn. Initially engaged on UK Fishery Protection duties, working out of Rosyth, Scotland, he then took his ship to Portsmouth to conduct mine warfare training in the English Channel.

Commander Ovens attended the final Royal Naval Staff Course at the Royal Naval College Greenwich in 1996, before taking up his next sea appointment as the Operations Officer in the Aircraft Carrier HMS Illustrious. It was during this deployment that HMS Illustrious took part in the ceremony to hand Hong Kong back to the Chinese and later in the appointment he organised and delivered the training to take a RAF Harrier squadron (GR7s), from never having embarked on an Aircraft Carrier to conducting night bombing raids over Iraq in 4 weeks. For this he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service (QCVS).

More… In 1999 he was promoted to Commander and took up a training post as a member of the Directing Staff at the Joint Service Command and Staff College. This was followed by a teaching appointment as an instructor in the USA at the Tactical Training Group Atlantic, Virginia, where he was responsible for teaching US Navy officers from Lieutenant through to Admiral, how to operate with allied Navies. Four weeks into the post, the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11 increased the importance of combined training as the US Navy prepared for Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.

Appointed to the Ministry of Defence in 2004, Commander Ovens was responsible for ensuring the smooth running of all aspects of the new Aircraft Carrier Strike capability programme, particularly the bringing into service of the UK’s Joint Strike Fighters and the Aircraft Carriers from which they will operate.

Commander Ovens and his wife Sandy have 2 young children. He enjoys paragliding, skiing, carpentry, DIY and, although he no longer plays, enjoys other sports, especially rugby.