Admiral Sir John Cunningham Kirkwood "Jock" Slater, (born 27 March 1938) is a retired Royal Navy officer. He commanded a minesweeper, a frigate and then a destroyer before taking over the aircraft carrier and then achieving higher command in the Navy. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from 1995 to 1998: in that capacity he played a key role in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review carried out by the Labour Government that had come to power a year earlier. Early life Slater was the son of James Kirkwood Slater and Margaret Claire Byrom Bramwell, daughter of Dr Edwin Bramwell. Slater was educated in his early years at the Edinburgh Academy before attending Sedbergh School and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Slater is a great nephew of Admiral of the Fleet The Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope who served as First Sea Lord during the Second World War. Naval career Slater joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1956 and was confirmed in the rank of sub lieutenant on 1 January 1959. During his early career he served in the destroyer , the minesweeper , the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia and the destroyer . In 1965 he was given command of the minesweeper HMS Soberton, which he commanded on fishery protection duties, before specialising in navigation. He was posted to the shore establishment later that year and then served in the aircraft carrier and then the frigate over the next two years. Slater became an Equerry to the Queen on 12 October 1968 and, having been promoted to lieutenant commander on 22 October 1968, his services were recognised when he was made a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order on 15 October 1971. Following promotion to commander on 31 December 1971, he was given command of the frigate in 1972. He was posted to the Directorate of Naval Operations at the Ministry of Defence in 1973 and, following promotion to captain on 30 June 1976, he was given command of the destroyer in August of that year. He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1978 and then became assistant director of Naval Warfare at the Ministry of Defence in 1979. He went on to become the first commanding officer of the aircraft carrier in May 1981 and then became Captain at the School of Maritime Operations and Commander of HMS Dryad in July