Major General Francis Hedley Roberton "Buster" Howes, (born 22 March 1960) is a former

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

officer who served as

Commandant General Royal Marines Commandant General Royal Marines is the professional head of the Royal Marines. The title has existed since 1943. The role is held by a General (United Kingdom), General who is assisted by a Deputy Commandant General, with the rank of Brigadier ( ...

from February 2010 to December 2011.

Early life

Howes was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

, a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, West Sussex. He studied chemistry at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree. He completed a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in

strategic studies Strategic studies is an interdisciplinary academic field centered on the study of peace and conflict strategies, often devoting special attention to the relationship between military history, international politics, geostrategy, international ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

.'HOWES, Maj. Gen. Francis Hedley Roberton, (Buster)',

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 22 June 2017
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Military career

Howes was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1982.Royal Navy: Major General Buster Howes OBE
/ref> He became a troop commander in

42 Commando 42 Commando is a unit within the UK Commando Force. Based at Norton Manor, Royal Marines Condor and 42 Commando are based at Bickleigh Barracks, Plymouth. Personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations or training. All Roya ...

and had his first posting to Northern Ireland. After training as a Mountain Leader, he transferred to

45 Commando 45 Commando Royal Marines (pronounced "four-five commando") is a battalion sized unit of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within UK Commando Force, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of the Fleet Comman ...

. He served in the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

while on secondment to the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. He served as a planner in the Rapid Reaction Force Operations Staff of

United Nations Protection Force The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...

during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

in 1995. Howes led

during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, for which he was appointed an

Officer 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 ...

. He became Chief Joint Coordination and Effects in Headquarters

ISAF 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 Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...

in Afghanistan in 2007, and Director of Naval Staff later that year. He went on to be commander of

3 Commando Brigade United Kingdom Commando Force (UKCF), previously called 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), is the UK's special operations-capable commando formation of the Royal Marines. It is composed of Royal Marine Commandos and commando qualified personnel f ...

in April 2008, Head of Overseas Operations in the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

in 2009 and

in February 2010. He was Head of the

British Defence Staff – US The British Defence Staff – US, which was previously known as British Joint Staff Mission and British Defence Staff (Washington), is the home of the Ministry of Defence in the United States of America and its purpose is to serve the interests of ...

and Defence

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

in Washington, D.C. from 2011 to 2015, and was appointed an

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

in the

2013 Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of t ...

Later career

In June 2020, Howes was appointed Chief Executive of the

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is an annual series of military tattoos performed by British Armed Forces, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and international military bands, and artistic performance teams on the Esplanade of Edinburgh Ca ...

after having served as a non-executive director of the organisation since 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howes, Buster 1960 births Living people Military personnel from Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Marines major generals British military attachés People educated at Christ's Hospital Alumni of the University of York Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Royal Navy personnel of the Gulf War Royal Navy personnel of the Iraq War Companions of the Order of the Bath 20th-century Royal Marines personnel 21st-century Royal Marines personnel