{{Short description|Royal Navy Admiral (born 1946)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = Admiral |name = Sir Ian Forbes |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB|CBE}} |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= |birth_date= {{Birth date and age|1946|10|24|df=yes}} |birth_place= |death_date= |death_place= |burial_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= Royal Navy |service_years= 1965–2004 |rank= Admiral |service_number= |unit= |commands= Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation<br/>United Kingdom Task Group<br/>{{HMS|Invincible|R05|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Chatham|F87|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Diomede|F16|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Kingfisher|P260|6}} |battles= Cod Wars<br/>Falklands War<br/>Bosnian War<br/>Kosovo War |awards= Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath<br/>Commander of the Order of the British Empire<br/>Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service<br/>NATO Meritorious Service Medal<br/>Legion of Merit (United States) |relations= |other_work= }} Admiral '''Sir Ian Andrew Forbes''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCB|CBE}} (born 24 October 1946) is a former Royal Navy officer who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic.
==Naval career== Educated at Eastbourne College, Forbes joined the Royal Navy in 1965.<ref name=debrett>{{cite web|url=http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today/profile/20221/Ian-Andrew-FORBES|title=Sir Ian Forbes|publisher=Debretts People of Today|accessdate=11 January 2015}}</ref>
Forbes was given command of the patrol craft HMS ''Kingfisher'', the frigate HMS ''Diomede'', the frigate HMS ''Chatham'', and the aircraft carrier HMS ''Invincible''.<ref name=debrett/> He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1994 for his work in the Ministry of Defence on the Bosnian War.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=53696|supp=y|page=5|date=10 June 1994}}</ref> During his time in HMS ''Invincible'', he was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in 1996 following the ship's contribution to NATO's Operation Deliberate Force, the bombing campaign against the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=54393|page=6547|date=10 May 1996}}</ref>
After promotion to rear admiral in 1996, Forbes was appointed Military Advisor to Carl Bildt at the Office of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo charged with reconstructing Bosnia and Herzegovina following the Bosnian War.<ref name=appoints>{{cite web|url=http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Senior%20Royal%20Navy%20Appointments%201900-.pdf |title=Senior Royal Navy Appointments |access-date=11 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315105247/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Senior%20Royal%20Navy%20Appointments%201900-.pdf |archive-date=15 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He also acted as the Chief of Staff in the Office of the High Representative during this period. Appointed as the Commander United Kingdom Task Group, he led the Battle Group's contribution during the 1998 bombing of Iraq, and during the NATO led Kosovo War in the Adriatic Sea in 1999. This appointment carried with it the NATO post of Commander Anti-Submarine Warfare Striking Force.
He went on to become the Flag Officer, Surface Flotilla in 2000, and was then sent, in the rank of admiral, in 2002 to the Supreme Allied Command Atlantic (SACLANT) in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, as the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander.<ref name=appoints/> In this post, he filled the role of Supreme Commander as the last SACLANT.<ref>NATO Review 2003</ref> While doing so, he was the architect of the new NATO Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk with responsibilities for the delivery of a transformation process across the Alliance mandated at the Prague Summit in 2003.<ref>Foreign Policy Magazine dated Mar/Apr 2004</ref> Appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 2003,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=56963|supp=y|page=2|date=14 June 2003}}</ref> he retired as the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation in 2004. For his work in Norfolk, he was awarded the inaugural NATO Meritorious Service Medal by the NATO Secretary General, George Robertson, at the NATO Defence Ministerial Meeting in Colorado Springs in 2003.<ref>US Congressional Record 1333 dated 24 Jun 2003</ref> In the following year, the United States government awarded him the Legion of Merit.<ref name=pwc/>
==Later life== In retirement, Forbes has become an advisor to Booz & Company, now Strategy&, the management consultancy arm of pwc.<ref name=pwc>{{cite web|url=http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/uk/home/who_we_are/uk_leadership_team/40354772/admiral_sir_ian_forbes|title=Admiral Sir Ian Forbes|publisher=Strategy&|accessdate=11 January 2015}}</ref> He was also Chairman of the Governors of Eastbourne College from 2005.<ref name=debrett/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eastbourne-college.co.uk/board-of-governors|title=Board of Governors – Eastbourne College|accessdate=20 March 2016}}</ref>
Chairman of the Naval Review from 2006 until 2013, Forbes is currently the President of the Forces Pension Society. He is also the President of the HMS Glamorgan Association, established following the ship's service in the Falklands War. He is married to Sally who is sponsor of the survey vessel {{HMS|Enterprise|H88|6}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov-news.org/gov/uk/news/navy39s_new_survey_vessel_named_enterprise/90376.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001747/http://www.gov-news.org/gov/uk/news/navy39s_new_survey_vessel_named_enterprise/90376.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=4 March 2016|title=Navy's new survey vessel named Enterprise|accessdate=11 January 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{succession box | title=Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic | before=Sir James Perowne | after=Himself<br/><small>As Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation</small> | years=January 2002 – October 2002 }} |- {{succession box | title=Acting Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic | before=William F. Kernan | after=Post Disbanded | years=October 2002 – June 2003 }} |- {{succession box | title=Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation | before=Himself<br/><small>As Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic</small> | after=Sir Mark Stanhope | years=June 2003 – July 2004 }} {{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Ian}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Royal Navy admirals Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service Category:Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Category:People educated at Eastbourne College Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit