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Chris Hunter (British Army officer)

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Chris Hunter
Born1972 or 1973 (age 50–51)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army
Years of service1989–2007
RankMajor
Unit
  • Royal logistics corps
  • 22 special air service
Battles / wars
AwardsQueen's Gallantry Medal
Other work
  • Writer
  • consultant

Chris Hunter is the pseudonym of a British author, bomb disposal expert and former British Army officer. Under his real name, Hunter holds the Queen's Gallantry Medal, and is therefore entitled to use the post-nominal QGM after his name.[not verified in body]

Military career

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Hunter joined the British Army in 1989 as a sixteen-year-old army apprentice. He trained initially as a Russian linguist working in defence intelligence and after four years of enlisted service was selected to undergo officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He graduated at twenty-one, and was subsequently awarded the Carmen Sword of Honour. He was then commissioned into the Royal Logistic Corps, the route that would eventually lead to his becoming an Ammunition Technical Officer (the British Army's bomb disposal operators).

He served as a troop commander on operations in the Balkans, East Africa and Northern Ireland and undertook arctic warfare training in Norway, before becoming an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operator. As an operator he deployed on two high-threat tours in Northern Ireland and one in Iraq, undertook EOD protection duties for the Royal Family and assisted in the planning and conduct of numerous police arrest operations involving the threat of explosive devices.[1] He was also the designated technical Operations Officer for the national contingency response to the terrorist use of a weapon of mass destruction in the UK. He was later involved with a number of UK Special Forces counter terrorism units and saw active service in Afghanistan, Colombia and Iraq as well as on counter-terrorism operations in the UK. For his actions in Iraq he was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.

Post-military career

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Hunter filming Bombhunters

Hunter retired from the MoD in January 2007 as the MoD's senior IED intelligence analyst and has since become a writer, broadcaster and the director of a counter-IED consultancy company. Hunter is also a Fellow of the Institute of Explosives Engineers, a Member of the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators and a regular contributor to television, radio news and current affairs programmes.[2][3][4]

Hunter presented the Military History Channel's acclaimed Bomb Hunters documentary[5] and was named as one of the top 5 Inspirational Speakers of 2011 by the JLA Speakers Agency.[6] In 2012 he was selected to be one of 15 Ambassadors for Prime Minister David Cameron's youth development initiative, the National Citizen Service.[7]

He is also a supporter and donator to numerous military charities including Help for Heroes, Veterans in Action, Tickets for Troops, Walking With The Wounded, Combat Stress, The British Forces Foundation, Global Enduro, Change Step and BLESMA for which he trained to run the 2009 London Marathon while wearing a complete bomb disposal suit,[8] completing it in 6hrs 56mins[9] and setting a new world record.

Published work

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Hunter's first book, Eight Lives Down, was published in October 2007. It covers the four-month period he served as a Bomb Disposal Operator in Iraq.[10][11] Its sequel, Extreme Risk, published in May 2010, charts his journey into bomb disposal.[12][13]

Hunter has also co-written two teenage novels with children's writer Steve Cole. The first, Tripwire, was published in April 2010,[14] and its sequel, Deathwing, was published in July 2011.[15]

References

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  1. ^ De Quetteville, Harry (13 July 2011). "Saved by a bomb disposal man". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Bomb Disposal Aces 'Face Extreme Fatigue'". Sky News. 9 February 2011. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  3. ^ "The Hurt Locker's real-life star". BBC News. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  4. ^ Chris Hunter: Extreme Risk 26.04.10. Forces News. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  5. ^ "Army Bomb Disposal Documentary "Bomb Hunters" on Sky 531 & Virgin 236". The Global Herald. 31 May 2011. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  6. ^ "Major Chris Hunter QGM – JLA – Conference Speakers". Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  7. ^ "National Citizen Service NCS | Video Wall". Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  8. ^ Hughes, Chris (19 April 2012) [2009-04-15]. "Iraq hero to run London Marathon in bomb disposal suit for comrades". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  9. ^ "Chris Hunter's Fundraising Page". JustGiving. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  10. ^ "Eight Lives Down by Chris Hunter". 30 May 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  11. ^ Hunter, Chris (2007). Eight Lives Down. Bantam Press. ISBN 978-0-552-15571-7. OL 28436182M. EAN 9780552155717.
  12. ^ "Extreme Risk by Chris Hunter". Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  13. ^ Hunter, Chris (2010). Extreme Risk. Bantam Press. ISBN 978-0-593-06016-2. OCLC 614305774. OL 24083280M. EAN 9780593060162.
  14. ^ Cole, Steve; Hunter, Chris (2010). Tripwire. Corgi Books. ISBN 978-0-552-56083-2. OL 26127924M.
  15. ^ Cole, Steve; Hunter, Chris (2011). Deathwing. Corgi Books. ISBN 978-0-552-56099-3. OL 26071235M.
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