James Cowan (British Army officer)

James Cowan
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1982 – 2015
Rank	Major General
Commands held	Black Watch 11th Light Brigade 3rd (UK) Division
Battles/wars	The Troubles War in Iraq War in Afghanistan
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order

Major-General James Michael Cowan CBE DSO is a former British Army officer.

Military career

Educated at Wellington College, Cowan joined the Territorial Army as a private soldier in 1982.^[1] He was deployed to Northern Ireland during The Troubles and then studied at Pembroke College, Oxford before being commissioned into the Black Watch in 1987.^[1] He became commanding officer of The Black Watch in July 2003 and in that role was deployed to Iraq for Operation Telic in Summer 2004 seeing action during the Second Battle of Fallujah, for which he was awarded an OBE.^[1] He became Chief of Staff for 3rd (UK) Division and was deployed to Iraq as Chief of Staff for Multi-National Division (South East) from July 2006 until January 2007.^[1] He became Commander of 11th Light Brigade in October 2007 and in that role he led his brigade during the Helmand province campaign.^[1] He had hoped that Operation Moshtarak would mark "the start of the end of this insurgency". At the very least it would become a test of whether the Afghan forces would be able to make their country peaceful and safe. He was awarded the DSO at the end of his tour of command.^[2]

Cowan went on to be head of Counter Terrorism & UK Operations in the Operations Directorate at the Ministry of Defence in 2010 with responsibility for the military contribution to the London 2012 Olympics. On promotion to major general he became General Officer Commanding 3rd (UK) Division in April 2013.^[3]

Cowan was advanced to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours.^[4]

Whilst serving as General Officer Commanding of 3rd UK Division, Cowan made national news in March 2014 after a three page letter intended for junior officers was leaked to The Sun newspaper and subsequently covered by other national and international news outlets, at a time when world attention was focused on the sensitive political situation involving Russia and the Crimea. The letter from Cowan addressed to 'Chaps' included the order that sandwiches were no longer to be served in the Officers' Mess and that junior officers should be funny at parties.^[5] The letter prompted a stinging attack by his own junior officers, on the Army Rumour Service website, where he was quickly nicknamed 'Sarnies' Cowan,^[6] and which itself was reported in national press.^[7] This inspired a 'Hitler Downfall parody' video, published anonymously on the Internet, also attacking the general.^[8] As of 14 March 2014, sandwiches and baguettes were still being banned in the 3rd UK Division Headquarters Officers' Mess.^[9] Cowan resigned from the Army in 2015, and his appointment as chief executive of the international landmine clearance charity the HALO Trust, with effect from April 2015, was announced in late February 2015.^[10]

References