New Commander British Forces, Gibraltar

GIBRALTAR (Agencies) Commodore Tom Karsten (photo of his days as Royal Navy Hudson Fellow at Oxford University) received an 11 Gun Salute on Tuesday to mark his arrival as the new Commander British Forces, Gibraltar. Following the retirement of Commodore Bell who left the Rock on Tuesday at the end of his Navy career, Commander Karsten takes over the post. He is acompanied by his wife, Sarah, while their three children remain at school in the UK. Born in 1961, Commander Karsten joined the RN in 1979 and began his seagoing career after years of training and study at Dartmouth, Exeter Univesity, among others. A number of warfare appointments include his first command , the Hunt class mine hunter HMS BICESTER (1993-94), following an appointemnt as Naval Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief Fleet during the First Gulf War. Before taking over as CBF Gibraltar, Commander Karsten spent two terms at Oxford University as the Royal Navy's Senior Hudson Fellow researching Arctic geopolitics.