Ian Comber MA, MA, MLitt, MCGI, PG CAP
Ian Comber is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army who served for 39 years in the Coldstream Guards and Royal Artillery.
He attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham in 2003 and completed five operational tours in Northern Ireland, operational tours with the United Nations in Cyprus, DR Congo and Mali, with NATO in Bosnia, with the European Union in Mali, and as Chief J35 Plans in Task Force Helmand (Afghanistan) on Operation HERRICK 12. His staff roles included working as an intelligence officer in South Armagh (Northern Ireland), as the lead on UK Operations in Headquarters Land Command (involved in the 7/7 and 21/7 London terrorist bombing responses), as Deputy Chief of Staff 3 Infantry Brigade in Portadown (Northern Ireland), and as the Plans Officer in Headquarters 4th Mechanized Brigade. In his role as Officer Commanding Operations/Plans at the Joint Counter-Terrorist Training and Advisory Team (JCTTAT) between 2010 and 2013, he deployed to Bangladesh, Morocco, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritania, Senegal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Nigeria in order to plan and conduct global counter-terrorism capacity building.
In 2013 he served with the United Nations (MONUSCO) in DR Congo where he performed three roles; as Chief Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) (bringing in a nascent UAV capability to the UN), Chief Information Operations (establishing a new cell) and Chief Targets during operations which neutralised the M-23 insurgent grouping. He then moved straight to the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM-Mali) at the beginning of December 2013 in the role of Executive Officer (Deputy Chief of Staff) conducting capacity building of the Malian Defence and Security Forces.
Between 2014 and 2017 he was the UK’s lead on Counterinsurgency at Warfare Branch in the Land Warfare Centre where he developed, advocated and authored doctrine on counterinsurgency, capacity building, measurement of effectiveness (MOE), security force assistance (SFA), stability operations, Defence Engagement and information activities.
In September 2017 he deployed on Operation Inherent Resolve as SO1 Strategy and Plans as part of the Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria and wrote the Coalition’s Campaign Plan for which he received the US Joint Service Commendation medal. He was also honoured with the French National Defence Medal. He then returned to Mali where he assumed the role of Chief Plans in MINUSMA (United Nations) and again authored the Campaign Plan for the UN Force, and developed the assessment process to determine campaign metrics. He led the Joint Effects Working Group and Counter-IED Working Group, reducing UN fatalities by 60%. He received a Joint Commander’s Commendation for his work in Mali.
His last role in the military was as a lecturer at the Defence Academy of the UK within the International Section as the Military Advisor to Building Integrity UK, and he also covered the SO1 Campaigning role on the Higher Command and Staff Course in 2021 for which he received a Commander Strategic Command commendation in the 2023 New Year’s honours list. In this role he authored five books; Countering Corruption Risks in Complex Security Environments, Political-Military Interface and the Role of Leadership in Countering Corruption, Corruption Risks in Human Resources, Countering Corruption Risks in Procurement and Acquisition, and Public Financial Management and its Role in Countering Corruption Risks, and was a key contributor to NATO’s Building Integrity in Operations Handbook.
He holds Masters Degrees in Defence Studies (King’s College London), Military Studies (Cranfield University) and Terrorism Studies (University of St Andrews), and holds Membership status accreditation (MCGI) in leadership and management from the City and Guilds and a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in Higher Professional Education (PGCAP HE). He has also completed the Executive Strategy Programme at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.