Major General Rowell left Zimbabwe at 18 to join the British Army and commissioned into the Royal Engineers a few years later. He has commanded Sappers in construction, civil support and combat engineer roles at troop, squadron and regimental level across four continents.
As deputy chief of staff for 4th Mechanised Brigade he deployed to Afghanistan and was awarded the MBE – which he believes his team deserve the credit for. On the staff he has worked in the Ministry of Defence and British Army Headquarters with a particular focus on innovation, experimentation and robotic and autonomous systems.
As a brigadier, he was the Head of Profession for the Royal Engineers and Commandant of the Royal School of Military Engineering Group. The Group trained approximately 10,000 personnel and over 100 animals from across Defence – and part of which is supported by a highly successful £3.2bn, thirty-year public-private partnership.
He has recently been the Head of Concepts and Force Exploration in the Development Concepts and Doctrine Centre, leading a multinational team whose projects inform and influence UK Defence policy, force design and capability development over the next decade and more.
Since May 2024, he has been the Commandant and Chief Executive of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom - his alma mater. The Defence Academy provides world-class professional defence and security education for UK military, civil service and defence industry and for allies and partners from across the world. Major General Rowell is delighted to be part of a diverse team delivering world-class education and training to sharpen the intellectual edge needed for success on operations and leadership in government.