Brian Jackson-Dooley

Joined the Royal Navy in 1961 and as a midshipman served in a landing ship, HMS Striker, in the Persian Gulf. The principal purpose for the military presence in the region at that time was to dissuade the Iraqis from invading Kuwait and it proved successful. In 1965 he qualified as an observer in the AEW role and joined HMS Eagle in the Far East. Following a late night swim in the South China Sea, courtesy of a Gannet engine failure, he thought it would be more civilised to see where he was going and transferred to Buccaneers. Brian qualified in the Strike role and joined HMS Eagle in 1967 for the second time. Two further sea going tours in Buccaneers followed, both in HMS Ark Royal. In 1975 he joined VA 42, the A6 Intruder training organisation based on the East coast of the USA. Initially he was the Systems Training Officer, later the Director of Replacement Training. During this shore job he took 6 trainee pilots to the decks of four US carriers making 90 arrested landings. This was his final flying appointment, completing with 2500 hours in the strike/attack role and rather more terrifying arrested landings than he cares to remember. His final appointment was negotiating the specification of the mission system avionics for the Nimrod AEW with the contractor before he retired from the Royal Navy in 1980. A successful second career followed and he has a Board position in a pharmaceutical company.