Major General John Craig Lawrence (born 18 October 1963), known as Craig Lawrence or J. C. Lawrence, is a retired

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer whose last appointment was as the Director of Joint Warfare at the Directorate of Joint Warfare. He is now an author and lecturer at the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

. Lawrence was educated at

Hill House School Hill House International Junior School is an independent preparatory day school primarily in the Knightsbridge district of London. It was founded in September 1949 by athlete and Liberal Party politician Lt-Col Stuart Townend with his wife, ...

St Peter's School, York St Peter's School is a mixed-sex education, co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school (also referred to as a Public school (United Kingdom), public school), in the English City of York, with extensive ...

and

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, where he read engineering. Commissioned into the

2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) The 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) was a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army before being transferred to the British Army on India's independence in 1947. The 4th Battalion joined the Indian Army as the 5th Bat ...

, he joined this unit in 1987 after finishing university. According to his personal website, he has served in a variety of regimental and staff appointments. As a

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

, he served in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

as the director of the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

's Election Support Cell and was awarded the

Afghan Ministry of the Interior The Ministry of Interior Affairs (, ) is the cabinet ministry of Afghanistan responsible for law enforcement, civil order and fighting crime. The ministry's headquarters is located in Kabul. The current minister of Interior Affairs is Siraj ...

's Honour and Service Medal. Lawrence was made a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

2001 New Year Honours The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipie ...

. He was upgraded to Commander of the order in 2013. Lawrence's first book was a commemorative history of the Gurkhas titled ''The Gurkhas: 200 Years of Service to the Crown'' and was published on 30 April 2015. The second, titled ''The Legacy'', is an action-adventure novel and was published on 21 May 2015.

References

1963 births Living people 21st-century British writers British Army major generals Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Gurkha Rifles officers Alumni of University College, Durham People educated at St Peter's School, York British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) 20th-century British Army personnel {{UK-writer-stub