Jamie Redfarn

I commanded a Division of 40 soldiers and 40 horses. I led the Division for the King’s Birthday Parade as well as the State Opening of Parliament after the General Election. In my capacity in this job, I manage equine welfare, soldier welfare and discipline, career management and professional development of my soldiers. In this post, I had a variety of duties from regularly assisting my soldiers to court for alleged criminal offences as well as hosting high profile personalities such as the head of the Brazilian Army (Southern Command). My line manager stated, 'Captain Redfarn was consistently proactively engaged and was committed to upholding the values and standards towards his fellow soldiers and staff. Proceeding cautiously, he has effectively identified the causation of problems and has used the relevant tools available to efficiently solve complex problems. Through this he formulates effective plans and he revises them to ensure they remain effective.'

In my secondary capacity as Media Officer, I managed the key engagements and communications between the Regiment, Headquarters London District and the BBC. In particular, I coordinated the Remembrance Day Parade media serials and was on the Cenotaph Parade. Before I mounted for parade, I was interviewed by LBC live and the BBC.

Upon my return from my tour in Kosovo, I planned the pre-deployment training package for the next rotation of soldiers from the Household Cavalry deploying to Kosovo in September 2023. This included planning day time and night time firing ranges for 50 soldiers and a 3 week long field exercise in Brecon which replicated the Kosovo theatre. In this role I owned key relationships with both military and civilian stakeholders and was required to contingency plan against all risks. My line manager noted that my 'high level of organization skill and attention to detail paid dividends, particularly for the final exercise' and that 'I care deeply about people and are willing to work hard to achieve results for them.'

It was my responsibility to assist the Officer Commanding (rank of Major) on all current and future operations. Upon arrival to the theatre, I rewrote the standing orders policy for all British soldiers in Kosovo. I coordinated and de-conflicted 25 British armed patrols on a weekly basis. In order to ensure the patrols were appropriately de-conflicted, a patrol matrix was devised and daily liaison with Kosovo Force HQ and our intelligence cell was essential. This HQ had 28 nationalities who were both NATO and non-NATO countries. Our role in theatre was human terrain reconnaissance where we were tasked to collect information on the human population in Kosovo to provide intelligence on the safety and security of the country. In this capacity, engaging with high profile individuals was essential. In order to achieve the correct diplomatic clearances, I had daily interactions with the police liaison officer who was Italian Carabinieri and the HQ Political Advisor who was an Italian civil servant. These relationships were essential to the operation as they were the key stakeholders who granted direct liaison authority with Kosovan Cabinet Ministers and Kosovan Police officials. Through them, we were granted permission to foster relationships with specialist units in the Kosovan police who focused on counter terrorism and key Kosovan-Albanian and Kosovan-Serbian politicians. Through my relationship with the Kosovan police, I aided in drone deconfliction in the Kosovan airspace between Army UAS and Kosovan police UAS. In terms of the operational tempo, we experienced a crisis in the North of Kosovo where a patrol came under IED threat twice in one day and I acted as the battle captain in the operations centre during this incident. As Second in Command, I also took command of 40 soldiers when the Officer Commanding was on leave. When in command, I coordinated table top exercises and war games after the crisis we experienced in the North of Kosovo. I also planned visits for key personalities visiting the theatre. I hosted and briefed the Foreign Secretary, The Rt Hon David Lammy and the Brigadier commanding 1 DRS Brigade.

At the end of my tour, I received a commendation from the American Contingent, 151st Infantry Regiment, Taskforce Avenger, for 'my contributions to the collection, assessment and sharing of intelligence.' Furthermore, my line manager reported 'I was the most resilient person he’s ever worked with,' and I 'proved beyond question the ability to think laterally and to learn quickly – adapting very quickly to a complex operational environment. His ability to communicate clearly and to form strong relationships in a multi-national context have been notable. His leadership during Kosovo has impressed. His sensitive but clear management of a difficult Corporal demonstrated excellent judgment, compassion and communication – impeccable leadership.'

I was employed to ensure that the force protection of British soldiers and lethal aid was fully maintained for the Ukraine war. Force protection, in short, is the due diligence process to ensure that British Forces are not posing risks to themselves or the mission. In order to achieve this, I worked alongside the counter intelligence team at IDCC HQ in Germany. I worked with British, American, Australian and Kiwi Counter Intelligence cells daily at the IDCC. When deployed to Romania, Slovakia and Poland I worked with the British Defence Attaches, the US State Department and the host nation counter intelligence cells as well as British counter intelligence. My main focus was ensuring the safe passage of lethal aid into Ukraine from its neighbouring countries. To ensure this, I worked alongside key Ukrainian personalities including a Ukrainian 3 star general, a Ukrainian Cabinet Minister and a Ukrainian liaison officer for the delivery of humanitarian aid into Ukraine. My key priority for the Ukrainians was safeguarding both lethal aid, humanitarian aid and its delivery drivers from Russian hostility. I have experience in composing security assessments of airports, railway stations, logistics nodes, command and control nodes and border crossing points into Ukraine. In terms of deliverables, I produced a 65 page report on my findings. My key assessments focussed on drone activity and the legal restrictions around drone interception, counter UAS measures, mobile phone and communications countermeasures, and contingency planning against mass casualty scenarios. Furthermore, I contributed to the IDCC’s brief to Director Special Forces when he visited the HQ and explained the operational benefits of Dataminr.

Phase 2 continuation training on Armoured Reconnaissance vehicles. I placed 3rd out of 24 on the Armoured Cavalry Reconnaissance Tactics course, a 10 week arduous course on the core principles of reconnaissance soldiering.

Commissioned from Sandhurst in Apr 2021 into the Household Cavalry Regiment, the Life Guards.

• Company Overview: Venture capital firm specializing in education and EdTech.
• I interned for Fuxi Capital. This internship was taken predominantly to facilitate the development of my Mandarin. I composed weekly reports on the current situation of education in China and its rising potential. I created a produce for a client on China’s interest in AI and its relation to the rise of education technology and how it could affect China’s future in education. Although all products were produced for English speaking clients, all routine business was conducted in Mandarin.

• Company Overview: Beijing Representative Office
• I interned at Zurich Insurance Beijing. In this role I created a 100-page report on China’s economic and political risk of investing in Europe. This was used by Zurich to advise its clients on what were considered high, medium and low risk countries to invest in. It was a bilingual office and I had the opportunity to interact with colleagues in both Mandarin and English.

• Company Overview: Asia headquarters, Singapore
• I assisted on projects regarding Singapore’s tourism industry which led to a company product which was submitted to SE Asia PR Awards 2015. In this internship I had exposure to crisis management and reputation management.