John Gower (British naval officer)

Gower was born in 1960 to Howard Gower and his wife Josephine (maiden name, Smart) in Carshalton, Surrey and moved to Solihull when he was four years old. His father died in a holiday seaside accident in 1969. Josephine remarried Tim Adkin who was a teacher at Solihull School and headed a Royal Air Force section of the school's Combined Cadet Force. Barred early on from becoming a fighter pilot due to poor eyesight, John was subsequently persuaded to join the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1978. By deferring his naval cadetship, Gower took the time to earn a degree in electrical engineering from Salford University.{{cite web |url= https://navalinstitute.com.au/obituary-radm-john-gower/ |title= Obituary: RADM John Gower|author= |date= February 18, 2024|website= Australian Naval Institute}}

John entered the Navy in 1978 and earned the rank of Sub Lieutenant in 1980{{London Gazette|issue= 49496|page=12932|date = October 4, 1983|supp =y}} and Lieutenant in 1983.{{London Gazette|issue= 49460|page=11419|date = August 26, 1983|supp = y}}. He steadily rose up the naval ranks and was promoted from Lieutenant Commander to Commander in 1994.{{London Gazette|issue= 53724|page=9603|date = July 4, 1994|supp=y}} In 1995 he took command of the HMS Trafalgar. In 1998 he received the O.B.E honorific recognition, "To be Ordinary Officers of the Military Division of the said Most Excellent Order," bestowed by the Crown.{{London Gazette|issue= 55155|page=5|date = June 13, 1998|supp=y}} Gower's continued upward movement commanding naval vessels was forestalled by an incident of having grounded the HMS Trafalgar off the coast of Scotland, which rendered him ineligible for commanding a larger vessel.

Subsequently he took administrative posts on land. These included the Naval Staff's Assistant Director of Nuclear Deterrence, and he served at the British Embassy in Washington as a naval attaché. He also served at Shrivenham on the Advanced Command and Staff course as the Director for Underwater Capability. He was promoted from Commander to Captain in 2000.{{London Gazette|issue= 55728|page=217|date = January 11, 2000|supp=y}} He achieved the prestigious rank of Rear Admiral in his promotion from Commodore to Rear Admiral in 2011.{{London Gazette|issue= 59979|page=22815|date = November 29, 2011|supp=y}}

File:Tridentreview.png

Gower's final professional naval post as Rear Admiral, in 2011-14, was to serve as Former Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Nuclear, Chemical, Biological) in the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence.{{cite web |url= https://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/person/john-gower/|title= John Gower (1960–2024) |author= |date= |website= |publisher=European Leadership Network|access-date= |quote=}}{{cite web |url= https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7edb2140f0b6230268bf81/2014-05527_2_3_star_RN_officers_redacted_scanned.pdf|title= Release of information|location= |publisher= Ministry of Defense Navy Command Headquarters|date = October 13, 2014}} In that role, Gower presided over the 2013 publication of the HM Government Trident Alternatives Review.{{cite web|url = https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c65b1e5274a7ee2567320/20130716_Trident_Alternatives_Study.pdf|title=Trident Alternatives Review|author = John Gower|date = July 16, 2013|publisher = Cabinet Office}} Having commanded nuclear-armed submarines, Gower was attentive to these weapons systems' role in the United Kingdom, as well as in NATO's strategic defenses. This report analyzes the role and credibility of nuclear deterrence and contrasts the effectiveness of various nuclear weapons systems.{{r|trident|p=4}} Examining the topic of "credibility and constraints," the document puts forward clear statements about the nature of the UK's nuclear doctrine, deterrence credibility, extended and collective deterrence relevant to NATO, and legal constraints. The report delivers a detailed analysis of various nuclear warhead delivery platforms from large aircraft and submarines to mobile ballistic missile launchers.{{r|trident|p=16-17}} It also compares different types of warheads from free fall bombs and cruise missile bombs to the UK Trident bomb.{{r|trident|p=19}} It assesses several nuclear deterrence postures and credibility criteria, and considers the vulnerability of second strike forces. The Report concludes with a diagrammatic figure contrasting nuclear deterrence attributes of cruise and ballistic missiles, showing how as the perception of the threat of attack rises, the risks of attack are mitigated by increasing the readiness of deterrent forces.{{r|trident|p=58}}

After retiring from his active role in the Royal Navy, John Gower published numerous articles in strategic outlets that address nuclear deterrence and existential risk mitigation. He published with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists,{{cite web|url=https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/rhetoric-in-ukraine-has-reinforced-the-fallacy-of-limited-nuclear-exchange/#post-heading|title = Rhetoric in Ukraine has reinforced the fallacy of limited nuclear exchange|publisher=Bulletin of Atomic Scientists|date = October 21, 2022|last=Gower|first=John}} BASIC,{{cite web|url=https://basicint.org/author/rear-admiral-john-gower/|title = Rear Admiral John Gower| date=10 November 2021 |publisher=BASIC}} the Council on Strategic Risks,{{cite web|url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/03/28/briefer-russian-nuclear-weapons-and-belarus-nato-should-continue-to-stand-steady/|last=Gower|first=John|title=Briefer: Russian Nuclear Weapons and Belarus: NATO Should Continue to Stand Steady|publisher = Council on Strategic Risks|date = March 28, 2023}} the Nautilus Institute,{{cite web|url= https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-special-reports/united-kingdom-nuclear-weapon-command-control-and-communications/ |last=Gower|first=John|title=United Kingdom: Nuclear Weapon Command, Control, and Communications|publisher = Nautilus Institute|date = September 12, 2019}} and the Carnegie Endowment.{{cite web|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/people/john-gower?lang=en|title=John Gower|publisher = Carnegie Endowment}} He gave public lectures, such as a Fireside Chat with the Centre for Effective Altruism,{{cite web|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/people/john-gower?lang=en|title=Fireside chat: Rear Admiral John Gower|website=youtube.com}} and a participated in panel discussions, including on nuclear risk.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd51ca7HDKQ|title = Panel on nuclear risk {{!}} Rear Admiral John Gower, Patricia Lewis, Paul Ingram {{!}} EAG London 23|website=youtube.com | date=28 June 2023 }}

Gower supported a Code of Nuclear Responsibility{{cite web|url = https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/armscontrol/ |title = Preventing Catastrophic Nuclear Risks and Exploring the Future of Arms Control|date = April 2021|publisher = Council on Strategic Risks}} that outlined 10 commitments to ensuring the stability of nuclear deterrence. These tenets entail: restraint, relevance, reassurance, readiness, reciprocity, and reduction.{{cite web|url =https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Improving-Nuclear-Strategic-Stability-Through-a-Responsibility-Based-Approach_Briefer-1_2019_10_22.pdf|title =Improving Nuclear Strategic Stability Through a Responsibility-Based Approach|publisher = Council on Strategic Risks|date = October 22, 2019|last=Gower|first=John}}{{cite web|url = https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/A-Practical-Strategy-for-Nuclear-Risk-Reduction-and-Disarmament_Fulfilling-the-Code-of-Nuclear-Responsibility_Briefer-17_2021_4_19.pdf|title = A Practical Strategy for Nuclear Risk Reduction and Disarmament: Fulfilling the Code of Nuclear Responsibility|publisher = Council on Strategic Risks|date = April 19, 2021|last=Gower|first=John}} He also cautioned against the nuclear warfighting posture of nuclear deterrence, which is the status quo for the United States.{{cite book|url= https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-logic-of-american-nuclear-strategy-9780197506585?cc=us&lang=en&|title = the Logic of American Nuclear Strategy: Why Strategic Superiority Matters|date = 2018|publisher = Oxford University Press|last= Kroenig|first = Mathew|location = Oxford}} In his article, "The Dangerous Illogic of Twenty-First-Century Deterrence Through Planning for Nuclear Warfighting,"{{cite news |last1=Gower |first1=John |title=The Dangerous Illogic of Twenty-First-Century Deterrence Through Planning for Nuclear Warfighting |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2018/03/the-dangerous-illogic-of-twenty-first-century-deterrence-through-planning-for-nuclear-warfighting?lang=en |work=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |date=March 6, 2018|location = Oxford |language=en}}{{cite book |last1= Lieber|first1= Keir A.|last2=Press |first2= Daryl G.|date=2020 |title=The Myth of the Nuclear Revolution: Power Politics in the Atomic Age |url= |volume= |pages= |publisher = Cornell University Press|access-date=|location = London}}{{cite book|last=Amadae |first=S.M. |author-link= |date=2016|chapter=Deterrence |title=Prisoners of Reason: Game Theory and Neoliberal Political Economy |url=https://philpapers.org/archive/AMAQ.pdf |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=99–144 |isbn=}} he critiques the United States Nuclear Posture Review's strategic posture of countering nonnuclear attacks with nuclear retaliation, and provides an alternative path. Gower assessed the UK's nuclear command and control systems.{{cite web|url = https://securityandtechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gower_uk_nc3_report_IST.pdf|title=United Kingdom: Nuclear Weapon Command, Control, and Communications|publisher=Technology for Global Security|last=Gower|first=John|date= August 15, 2019 }}

Gower married Diana Steven, daughter of a Naval Officer, in 1986. They met when both joined the University Officers' Training Corps. The couple had two sons and a daughter. Gower's hobbies included poetry writing, cycling, and motorcycling. He is remembered for having cycled to formal dinners in London dressed in full senior officer's attire. John Gower's lifetime contributions and achievements have been acknowledged by the European Leadership Network,{{cite web|url=https://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/person/john-gower/ |publisher = European Leadership Network|title = John Gower(1960–2024)}} the Australian Naval Institute, the Council on Strategic Risks,{{cite web|url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/about/leadership/rear-admiral-john-gower-cb-obe/ |title = Rear Admiral John Gower, CB OBE| date=8 May 2019 |publisher = Council on Strategic Risks}} as well as the Times.{{cite web|url = https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/rear-admiral-john-gower-obituary-9vpjkfz9s|title = Rear-Admiral John Gower obituary|date = February 14, 2024|publisher = Times}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://ceness-russia.org/eng/conf2017/materials/2009/2031/ The Moscow Nonproliferation Conference 2017 (audio recording)]
• [https://www.ladygrover.org.uk/tribute-to-rear-admiral-john-gower/ Gower's obituary on the Times]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gower, John}}

Category:1960 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:Nuclear strategists

Category:Royal Navy rear admirals

Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Category:People from Carshalton

Category:Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College

Category:Alumni of the University of Salford