MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Royal Navy commodore new Commander of BFSAI at MPC in Falklands

The CBFSAI role is Commodore Lett’s fifth tour in the South Atlantic. He has previously served on HMS Westminster, HMS Lancaster and as Commanding Officer of both HMS Clyde and HMS Montrose.

Commodore Jonathan Lett of the Royal Navy officially took over as the new Commander of British Forces for the South Atlantic Islands November 20. He replaces the outgoing Commander, Brigadier Nick Sawyer as head of Mount Pleasant Complex in the Falkland Islands.

The CBFSAI role is Commodore Lett’s fifth tour in the South Atlantic. He has previously served on HMS Westminster, HMS Lancaster and as Commanding Officer of both HMS Clyde and HMS Montrose.

He said: “I am incredibly lucky to have travelled so extensively in the region, from Ascension and St Helena to Steeple Jason and Southern Thule, but for the majority of that time I have viewed the islands from sea. I am really looking forward to spending longer periods ashore to see the islands close-up.’’

Commodore Lett joined the Royal Navy in 1989 as a Warfare Officer and in 2001 he qualified as a Principal Warfare Officer (Underwater).

His seagoing career has predominantly been in Offshore Patrol Vessels and in Type 23 Frigates, with taskings including fishery protection in UK waters, United Nations sanction enforcement in the Gulf, counter-narcotic operations in the Caribbean and counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean.

Ashore, Commodore Lett has completed a range of tours, serving with the UK Maritime Battlestaff, with the UK Maritime Component Commander in Bahrain and with the NATO Standing Maritime Group. His last three years were spent as the UK Liaison Officer to US Southern Command in Miami, closely monitoring events in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Commodore Lett will serve unaccompanied at BFSAI as his wife, Captain Fiona Percival, is also serving in the Royal Navy. She has already visited the Falkland Islands twice and hopes to return when leave and quarantine allows.(Penguin News)