UN Medals UNFICYP riband & UNOMSIL (Sierra Leone) riband both unnamed as issued, Operational Service Medal clasp Afghanistan no clasp named CAPT A G H PILKINGTON RM, Iraq Medal no clasp named CAPT A G H PILKINGTON RM, Queens Golden Jubilee Medal not named as issued & Iraq Reconstruction Service Medal named ALEXANDER PILKINGTON.
Alexander Gregory Howarth Pilkington was born in 1970 and was educated at Bury Grammar School and Aston University, gaining a BSc in Psychology and Sociology, before being commissioned into the Royal Marines in Sept 1993. Having seen action in no less than four theatres, he also acted as a Recruit Troop Commander and with Royal Marine Recruits at Chatham. He ran the Potential Officers Course during 1996 in order to identity future generations of Royal Marine Officers. From July 2002-May 2003 he also served as HQ Adjutant before deploying to Iraq. Appointed to Trained Strength 1st Sept 1995 and retired 2006.
Retiring in 2006, he took up private security work in Iraq with Control Risks, G4S and Aegis Defence Services. On his service with Aegis:
'I'm about doing my supersession of the region which I'm about to command. It's a big old place (Al Anbar - west Iraq) and I'll hold my HQ main Fallujah with out-posts in Al Asad and Ramadi (all lovely places!). So, basically I'm spending a week at each location as an extra shooter...It's been a cracking couple of weeks as my predecessor holds down the fort and I play at being a shooter and just worry about how to keep the sand out of my weapons!..I have enclosed a photo of with one of my SETs (Security Escort Teams) out in the dust in Al Asad, just after a mission yesterday which was a bit hairy as it was at a recce of a spot that used to get zapped daily but our client want to rebuild it so we went out to do a recce...I'm the little blonde (what's left of it) in the middle. The team is mostly ex-RM/Para Regt and a couple ex-Army.'
Another comment on the photo:
'Note the VERY gucci M4s that the shooters have - best kit in Iraq on the whole.'
Working with The Tamar Trust for several months, in 2011 Pilkington held the position of Regional Manager (Northern Iraq) for Control Risks; sold together with a plethora of Officer Appraisal Reports, photographs and further details.
