Paul Bowers has a distinguished career as a captain in the Royal Navy, but he is humble about his accomplishments, even with his parents, John Bowers and Joann Cook of Groveland Township.
‘He’s our son, but he doesn’t talk much about his job until his wife says, ‘Tell your Dad what you’re doing,?? said John. ‘He’s still a kid that runs around looking for frogs and such.?
Indeed, when the couple received an email from Paul not long ago in which he first updated on family events, including a child’s birthday, another milestone added at the end almost seemed an afterthought, although by most standards, it’s an amazing feat.
‘He was talking about family stuff and at the last minute, it was ‘oh, by the way, I’ve been awarded the OBE,?? said John. ‘It’s really quite strange.?
Paul Bowers was notified a few months ago that he has been awarded the Order of the British Empire.
According to the official website of the British Monarchy, ‘The Order of the British Empire recognises distinguished service to the arts and sciences, public services outside the Civil Service and work with charitable and welfare organisations of all kinds.?
The OBE was created by King George V in 1917, during World War I from a desire to recognize those in the British Isles and elsewhere in the Empire serving in the war effort both as combatants and as civilians. Women were included for the first time in an order of chivalry, as well as foreigners who assisted the Brits. Beginning in 1918 and going forward, there were military and civil divisions to the OBE.
Today the Order of the British Empire is the order of chivalry of British democracy, according to the website. Valuable service is the only criterion for the award, and the Order is now used to reward service in a wide range of useful activities.
Paul, 48, moved to the United Kingdom in 1980 and joined the Royal Navy in 1989 as part of the Fleet Air Arm, training as a Lynx helicopter navigator. He operated from the back of frigates and destroyers, carrying missiles and torpedoes.
‘I found it a difficult course,? wrote Paul via e-mail correspondence with The Citizen. ‘While there were some electronic devices, when I trained there was no GPS and we had to manually track ships and our flying route on a plotting board with grid paper. This technology had not moved on far from the Second World War!?
This changed over Paul’s 20 year career in the cockpit and the Lynx was upgraded with an infrared identification camera, an electronic screen with the surface picture and ships plotted and integrated GPS. The Lynx has now been replaced by the next generation of aircraft called the Wildcat. In the beginning of his career, Paul was a junior aircrew member of 815 Naval Air Squadron, providing Lynx flights to HMS Exeter and HMS Birmingham and performed NATO tasks, including the embargo of the former Yugoslavia (now Serbia) during its break-up. He also travelled as far as the northern tip of Norway, conducted anti-drug operations in the Caribbean and rode out a hurricane off the eastern U.S. seaboard. He became an electronic warfare instructor and taught new students.
‘Older and arguably a bit wiser, I was then the flight commander of HMS Newcastle and Nottingham,? said Paul. ‘We did escort duties during the Kosovo conflict and spent time in the Gulf and Falklands. I also managed an around the world trip in 2000.?
He then took on a series of staff officer jobs which included operations and the executive officer of 702 Naval Air Squadron, which trains new students. He spent a year on the UK Advanced Command and Staff Course, before being promoted to Commander and from 2008-2010 commanded the 815 Naval Air Squadron, ‘a brilliant but very responsible job with nearly 350 people scattered across the globe, undertaking anti-piracy, enforcing embargos, countering drug running and carrying out some amazing feats of search and rescue.?
‘All good things come to an end, and that was my last flying job,? continued Paul. ‘I then did a staff job in resource planning and programming for the Fleet Air Arm, which I found fascinating and rewarding.?
With a desire to return to operations, he was sent to the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) and conducted ‘contingent? operations, sitting between the planning and ongoing operations team and this would be where he would earn his promotion to captain, as well as his OBE honor.At PJHQ, Bowers ran the UK’s support to French and Mali forces to counter the insurgents sweeping down from the Sahel in early 2013. The UK provided surveillance support and a troop contribution to the European Union (EU) initiative to train the Malian armed forces.
‘We also supported the transport of other African Union countries to help stabilise the situation,? said Paul. ‘After a time preparing various contingency plans, I was made the operational team leader for the UK’s contribution to the Philippines to help in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.?
The UK provided HMS Defender and HMS Illustrious as well as C17 and C130 aircraft as part of the relief effort. A number of helicopters onboard the Illustrious made it particularly effective.
Bowers notes that the UK Ministry of Defence supports the Department for International Development in a similar fashion to the way the U.S. Department of Defense works with USAID and they were able to load many tons of supplies. Working with the Philippine government and UN, they distributed aid and support to the outlying island communities, where ships and helicopters were very effective.
‘Although our military role finished after a couple of months, the long term impact will take several years to correct for the local people,? said Bowers. ‘Swiftly off the back of this, I was the operational team leader for an assisted evacuation of UK and EU personnel from South Sudan, which suffered an unexpected coup attempt. This was a distressing and difficult time, as the situation on the ground was not clear for several days. I still recall that the RAF C17 crew displayed enormous courage by landing despite the fact that the aircraft ahead of them suffered a nosewheel collapse, shortening the runway.?
Bowers? last operation was operational team leader for the UK contribution to assist the Nigerian government in locating 276 female students kidnapped the night of April 14-15, 2014 from a secondary school in the town of Chibok. Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist group, has claimed responsibility for the abductions.
‘This was no easy task, as the area is huge and forested,? said Bowers. ‘The Nigerians were also suffering near daily attacks from Boko Haram that limited their ability to get out of their bases. The UK and other allies continue to support Nigeria to this day. Sadly, kidnapping and wanton slaughter remain tools that Boko Haram employs and a regional approach is the only way to deal with this insurgency. Additionally, in the margins I did work with a local school to help the community and spent time developing ways to improve my workplace in the wake of the drawdown in Afghanistan.?
Bowers calls the awarding of the OBE ‘totally out of the blue and a great honour.?
‘You get written up by the chain of command and the process requires a great deal of scrutiny,? he said. ‘I never expected it being based in the UK rather than in the field. However, although I am recognised for the achievement, I must acknowledge the great work and support from all my colleagues at work and most importantly from my family who endured what was, in effect, an ‘Optour.? Coming home very late, changing plans at the last minute and working weekends was required to deliver these operations to success and I was only able to do that with their help and understanding.?
Bowers, who is married and the father of two children, will attend an investiture ceremony to receive the OBE from either Queen Elizabeth or Prince Charles of Wales, although he has not been given a date yet for the event.
According to the British Monarchy website, around 20 investitures are held in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace each year. Another takes place at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, and sometimes one more at Cardiff Castle in Wales.Recipients can bring with them to the investiture up to three friends or relations, who are invited to sit in the audience to witness the occasion.
The Queen, or the member of the Royal Family holding the investiture, remains standing throughout. Each investiture takes about an hour. After the National Anthem has been played, either the Lord Chamberlain or the Lord Steward announces the name of each recipient and the achievement for which he or she is being honoured. The Queen then places the decoration on the person concerned before congratulating them on receiving the award.
‘OBE is not a knighthood, but is part of the chivalric orders with a close relationship to St Paul’s Cathedral,? said Bowers. ‘My colleagues who have had an MBE or OBE tell me it is a great day for me and the family – plus plenty of tips to make it all go smoothly. I guess I will eventually find out.?
St Paul’s Cathedral was nominated by a committee to be the Chapel of the Order and was approved by the Queen. Once every four years, approximately 2,000 members of the Order attend a service there to celebrate the Order. Many people who have been awarded an honour from overseas attend these services, and each person attending wears their award, according to the British Monarchy website.
The motto of the Order is ‘For God and the Empire.?