Robert Fulton (Royal Marines officer)

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Lieutenant General

| name = Sir Robert Fulton

| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KBE|KStJ}}

| image = Governor Sir Robert Fulton - Inspection (cropped).jpg

| caption = Fulton in 2008

| office = Governor of Gibraltar

| monarch = Elizabeth II

| 1blankname = Chief Minister

| 1namedata = Peter Caruana

| term_start = 27 September 2006

| term_end = 21 October 2009

| predecessor = Sir Francis Richards

| successor = Sir Adrian Johns

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1948}}

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater = University of East Anglia
Royal College of Defence Studies

| allegiance = United Kingdom

| branch = Royal Marines

| serviceyears = 1972–2006

| rank = Lieutenant General

| unit =

| commands = Commandant General Royal Marines
3 Commando Brigade
42 Commando

| battles = Bosnian War

| mawards = Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Knight of the Order of St John

}}

{{Infobox viceroy styles

| image= 150px

| name= Sir Robert Fulton
(2006–2009)

| dipstyle= His Excellency

| offstyle= Your Excellency

| altstyle= Sir

}}

Lieutenant General Sir Robert Henry Gervase Fulton, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KBE|KStJ}} (born 1948) is a retired British Royal Marines officer who served as Governor of Gibraltar from 2006 to 2009.

Career

Educated at Eton College and the University of East Anglia where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Fulton joined the Royal Marines in 1972.[http://www.eda.europa.eu/WebUtils/downloadfile.aspx?FileID=110 Biography at EDA] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015151716/http://www.eda.europa.eu/WebUtils/downloadfile.aspx?FileID=110 |date=2009-10-15 }} After serving as a junior officer for a number of years, he was appointed to the Staff College at Warminster. He became a company commander in 42 Commando in 1983 and then undertook various staff appointments before joining the Directing Staff of the Army Staff College, Camberley in 1990.

Fulton was appointed commanding officer of 42 Commando in 1992, Assistant Director for CIS Operational Requirements in 1994, and a member of the Rapid Reaction Force Operations Staff in UNPROFOR in 1995. After attending the Royal College of Defence Studies and then the Higher Command and Staff Course in 1996, he became commander of 3 Commando Brigade in 1997, Commandant-General Royal Marines in 1998 and equipment capability manager at the Ministry of Defence in 2001. In 2003 was promoted to lieutenant general on appointment as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Equipment Capability). He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2005 Birthday Honours.{{London Gazette |issue=57665 |page=4 |supp=y |date=11 June 2005}}

In September 2006, Fulton took over as Governor of Gibraltar. He was Britain's first governor to witness change in the Gibraltar constitution since 1967. He was appointed a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John on 5 August 2009,{{cite web|title=Order of St John|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/L-59148-888305}} and his term as governor ended in October 2009.

In April 2007 it was announced that Fulton would lead an enquiry into the capture of 15 British military personnel by Iranian forces;{{cite news|url=http://www.gibfocus.gi/details_headlines.php?id=1205|title=Gibraltar Governor heads Royal Marine inquiry|publisher=gibfocus.gi|date=16 April 2007|access-date=17 April 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004643/http://www.gibfocus.gi/details_headlines.php?id=1205 |archive-date = 28 September 2007}} he reported to Parliament later that year.{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmdfence/181/18104.htm|title=House of Commons – Defence – Fourth Report|access-date=31 January 2016}}

A Freeman of the City of London, Fulton serves as a Court Assistant of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers and, in July 2010, became chief executive officer of the Global Leadership Foundation.{{cite web|url=https://www.g-l-f.org/index.cfm?pagePath=Organization/Biography_Bin/Sir_Robert_Fulton&id=83162|title=Sir Robert Filton|publisher=Global Leadership Foundation|access-date=8 April 2018}}

He was appointed King of Arms of the Order of the British Empire in 2016,{{cite web|url=https://www.yourgibraltartv.com/society/11091-feb-16-former-governor-sir-robert-fulton-appointed-king-of-arms|title=Former Governor Sir Robert Fulton Appointed King Of Arms|publisher=YGTV|date=16 February 2016|access-date=1 May 2023}} serving as such until May 2024.{{London Gazette |issue=64397 |page=9430 |date=15 May 2024}}

Family

Fulton married Midge Free in 1975; they had two sons before they separated in 2010.[http://www.gibnews.net/cgi-bin/gn_print.pl/?GPIX060927_1.xml Gibraltar welcomes new Governor] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930073759/http://www.gibnews.net/cgi-bin/gn_print.pl/?GPIX060927_1.xml |date=2007-09-30 }}