 He became Staff Operations Officer to the Commander United Kingdom Task Group in the Adriatic Sea and was present during the withdrawal from Hong Kong in July 1997.Promoted to captain on 30 June 1997, he became commanding officer of the frigate as well as Captain of the 1st Frigate Squadron and then served as Assistant Director, and then as Acting Director of the Directorate of Operational Capability at the Ministry of Defence, before becoming Commander of British Forces in the Falkland Islands in 2002.He was appointed Commander of the Standing Naval Force, Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) in 2003 and Commander of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 2004.