Major Ken Hames (Rtd) is a British former Special Air Service's officer, presently a motivational speaker and specialist television presenter.
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Hames grew up in a British Army family, where his father had served in a series of regiments and battles before retiring to become a farmer.[1]
Hames joined the British Army in 1973 as junior soldier. After serving in West Germany as a tank driver, he was selected to attend the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1976 (SMC and RCC 13), returning to serve as a Platoon Commander in Germany with the British Army of the Rhine.[2] Hames joined the Queen's Regiment, before serving on an exchange program with the Royal Marines, with whom he served as a Captain in the Falklands War and was at the liberation of Port Stanley. After the Falklands, he suffered for a period with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. After returning to service, he was one of the last guards of former Nazi Rudolf Hess at Spandau Prison in then West Berlin. Hames then joined the Special Air Service, where after a period of service he commanded Britain’s anti-terrorist team for one year. Hames then rejoined the active part of the unit, and served in the First Gulf War.[3] He served for the majority of his time in the Army with the Queen's Regiment and, after amalgamation, the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment, before finishing his service as Second in Command of the Infantry Training Centre, Catterick.
After 25 years service, Hames retired from the Army in 1998. Becoming an expedition leader and motivational speaker, he came to note of a television producer and became involved in various adventure-themed programs. Following a debut on Battle Stripes for Sky TV in 2000, Hames designed and presented Channel 4's Desert Darlings, and in October 2002, filmed the follow on in Namibia with couples who attempted to cross the Namib Desert.
Hames was involved with the production and camp design for the first series ITV1's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, and subsequently the children's television series Bring it On, and Hero Factor for the Discovery Channel. Hames filmed SAS Battles for Five and most recently Beyond Boundaries,[1] Mission Africa and Ex-Forces and Homeless all for the BBC.
Hames also spends some of his time working as a facilitator with experiential training company Farscape Development.[4]
A keen family man, he currently lives in Bristol with his wife and two children.