Lieutenant-General Sir Derek Boorman KCB (born 30 September 1930) was a senior British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 officer.

Military career

Educated at Wolstanton Grammar School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...

, Boorman was commissioned into the North Staffordshire Regiment

North Staffordshire Regiment

The North Staffordshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. It can date its lineage back to 1756 with the formation of a second battalion by the 11th Regiment of Foot, which shortly after became the 64th Regiment of Foot...

 in 1950. He was Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General at Headquarters 48th Gurkha Infantry Brigade and subsequently Commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

 of 51st Brigade in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

He was appointed Director of Military Operations at the Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

 in 1980 and Commander of British Forces in Hong Kong

Commander British Forces in Hong Kong

The Commander British Forces in Hong Kong was a senior British Army officer who acted as Military Advisor to the Governor of Hong Kong.-Structure:...

 in 1982. He went on to be Chief of Defence Intelligence in 1985: in that capacity he took the view that the Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

's proposals for internal reform and deep cuts in missile stocks were genuine. He retired from the British Army in 1988.

He was also Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 of the 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles

6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles

The 6th Queen Elizabeth's Own Gurkha Rifles was a regiment of the British Indian Army, before being transferred to the British Army following India's independence. Originally raised in 1817 as part of the army of the British East India Company, the regiment has been known by a number of names...

 from 1983 to 1988.

Retirement

In October 1992 he was appointed a Member of the Government's Security Commission

Security Commission

The Security Commission is a UK non-departmental public body established in 1964 to investigate breaches of security in the public sector.Current members are:*The Rt Hon Lady Justice Butler-Sloss, DBE...

 and in 1996 he accused Government Minister

Minister (government)

A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

s of being untruthful in their evidence to the Arms to Iraq Inquiry

Scott Report

The Scott Report was a judicial inquiry commissioned in 1992 after reports of arms sales in the 1980s to Iraq by British companies surfaced. The report was conducted by Sir Richard Scott, then a Lord Justice of Appeal. It was published in 1996...

. He retired from the Security Commission in 1998.

In 1994 he became Chairman of the Royal Hospitals Trust

Barts and The London NHS Trust

Barts and The London NHS Trust is an NHS Trust operating in the City of London and east London.It runs three hospitals:* The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel* St Bartholomew's Hospital in Smithfield in the City...

 - a post he held until 1998. Then in 2000 he became a Deputy Pro-Chancellor of the University of Kent

University of Kent

The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...

.