Commodore Aldous joined the Royal Navy as a Warfare Officer in 1998 with a Law Degree from
Southampton University. Following initial training at BRNC Dartmouth his early career spanned OOW and Navigator appointments in MCMVs, Frigates and Destroyers, including operations off Iraq in 2003, a period in the Sea Training organisation (FOST) and counter piracy efforts in the Indian Ocean. Aldous also spent a year as the Warfare Officers’ Branch Manager before attending the Advanced Command and Staff Course (ACSC) in 2013/14.
Selected for promotion to Commander and for Sea Command in 2014, Aldous assumed Command of HMS IRON DUKE in February 2015. IRON DUKE was assigned to the Standing NATO Task Group 2 (SNMG2) in 2016 and spent 6 months operating with the group off Norway and in the Baltic Sea during a fascinating time of Russian activity after its annexation of Crimea.
With his time in IRON DUKE complete, Aldous took up the role of Executive Assistant to the Second Sea Lord in Autumn 2016 acting as the principal advisor to the RN’s 3* lead for Personnel, Training, Capability, Infrastructure and Finance. He then moved to HMS COLLINGWOOD to assume the position of Officer Commanding Warfare Training Group, responsible for ensuring Training Performance Standards were met for all Warfare Officers and Ratings in the RN.
On promotion to Captain in 2020, Aldous was assigned as Deputy Commander to CTF150, based in Bahrain under French Command and then took up the role of Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations) in the UK’s Standing Joint Force Headquarters in Northwood. Here he was responsible for delivery of the HQ at readiness for the Chief of Joint Operations. Aldous attended the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) in 2021/22 before promoting to Commodore and assuming Command of the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) in Bahrain in 2022.
Commodore Aldous lives in Southsea, Portsmouth with his wife and two young daughters.
