The Royal Gibraltar Regiment is gearing up for a handover at its top post early December.
Major John Pitto, whose substantive promotion to Lieutenant Colonel was announced last month and will take effect in December, will take over as Commanding Officer of the regiment from Lieutenant Colonel Matt Moore.
Maj Pitto has been a member of the RG since 2005 and transitioned from reservist to regular commissioned officer after graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2008.
Throughout his career, he has taken on a multitude of roles that showcase his leadership and commitment.
He deployed on Operation Herrick 15 with the 1st Battalion the Prince of Wales Royal Regiment, where he played a pivotal role as a Ground Commander, supporting the training and operations of the Afghanistan Civil Order Police in Helmand Province.
His regimental service as a Capt included three years as Aide de Camp to two Governors of Gibraltar, Vice Admiral Sir Adrian Johns and Lieutenant General Sir James Dutton, and two years as Adjutant.
On promotion to Major and after completing the Intermediated Commanders Staff Course, he commanded HQ Company RG for two years and then led the rifle company for an additional year.
In his most recent role as Battalion Second in Command he excelled as Chief of Staff, overseeing battalion outputs and skilfully addressing unique challenges within the regiment.
He tackled critical issues related to pay and allowances, advocated for justifying service family accommodation, and worked diligently to uphold military discipline standards.
His previous appointment as SO2 J3/5 for HQ British Forces Gibraltar was marked by significant contributions to EU Exit strategies, Covid-19 contingency planning, and enhancing the capabilities of British Forces Gibraltar as a Forward Operating Base. For his outstanding service, he was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen in her final birthday honours in 2022.
Maj Pitto has also led numerous short-term training teams in support of wider defence engagement activities in The Gambia and Morocco during his career, further demonstrating his commitment to international military collaboration and capacity building.
Lt Cole Moore, the current Commanding Officer, has spent two years in the post.
Commissioned into the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment in 2004, he has served in armoured and light infantry roles, with both regular and reserve units.
His early service was spent in Germany with deployments with both 1PWRR and the United States Marine Corps to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
He has commanded an armoured infantry platoon in Iraq, 1PWRR Mortar Platoon in the Falklands and later integrated this into a Fire Support Group for Afghanistan.
He also commanded C Coy, 2PWRR in Cyprus as part of the Theatre Reserve Battalion, where he deployed as part of the 82nd Airborne to mentor the Joint Coalition Coordination Centre in Iraq, responsible for the initial planning of the joint Kurdish/Iraqi Army retake of Mosul.
His staff appointments have included Chief of Staff to Head Armoured Vehicles Programme in Abbey Wood, Executive Officer in the initial development of 4PWRR as an infantry reserve battalion, Chief of Staff Kabul Security Forces, and SO2 Plans in HQ 1 (UK) Division.
He was selected to attend Advanced the Command and Staff Course from Aug 2021 until Aug 2022.
Lt Col Moore will return to the UK where he will take up his next appointment as SO1 Warfare at the Land Warfare Centre, Warminster.
