John Lachlan

John Lachlan (born April 13, 1968) is a Senior Operational Officer of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).

Lachlan's father Andrew Lachlan of Glencoe, Scotland, is a Senior Accounts Manager for BAE Systems Land & Armaments Group, while his mother Jeanne Martinet Lachlan is a Swiss national, originally from Yverdon Canton de Vaud, Switzerland.

He attend Fettes, where he won numerous athletic competitions and twice boxed for the school as a light weight. He also formed the first intermural judo league for the public school circuit. Under an exchange program with Fettes, Lachlan spent a stint at the University of Geneva.

After graduating from Fettes at the age of 17, Lachlan began attending the Britannia Royal Naval College. He later conducted his year of Sea Service with high recommendations from his Chief Petty Officers and Warrant Officers. He applied for and was uniformly recommended for work in Naval Intelligence. Lachlan served as an intelligence officer on HMS Exeter both before and during Operation Granby, and later was able to transfer to submarine service, touring on the HMS Turbulent. Within the year of being assigned to HMS Turbulent, Lachlan volunteered for the Special Boat Service.

Apparently because Lachlan excelled so well with training, he was placed with the 030 Special Forces Unit, rather than deployment as a swimmer-canoeist with the standard SBS Units in Poole. During his three-year tenure with the 030 SFU, Lachlan rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He saw covert service in Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Libya, and active service in Bosnia. Upon completion of his duties in Bosnia - where Lachlan was credited with saving the lives of nearly 100 men from a Serbian militia in one village - Lachlan was recruited by the RNR Defence Intelligence Group and awarded the rank of Commander.

Lachlan's work with the Defence Intelligence Group at Defence Intelligence and Security Centre, Chicksands, provided vital intelligence during key moments with Libya, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Indonesia, China (during the Hong Kong handover) and North Korea. In Libya, Lachlan was able to secure detailed assessments of the status of the Libyan government's reputed financial ties to numerous terrorist organizations, as well as crucial information related to the settlement of issues related to the Pan Am 103 case. In Iraq, Lachlan was able to monitor Iraqi counter-moves to the UNSCOM (now UNMOVIC) inspections process during one key period. Lachlan undertook a particularly hazardous mission into Afghanistan to rescue a researcher deemed important to Her Majesty's Government who was being imprisoned by the Taliban government. During the S-300 missile crisis in Cyprus, Lachlan helped undermine the Republic of Cyprus government's confidence, and, it is felt, helped bring a peaceful resolution to the matter. During his tenure at the DI Group RNR, Lachlan attended specialized courses at Cambridge (where he achieved a first in Oriental Languages), Oxford and other institutions. Lachlan left the DI Group RNR after recruitment by the MI6 in February of 1999.

Lachlan's first assignment with MI6 was at the British Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica. His duties there included: translation of Haitian, French and Dutch West Indies communiqués, interdiction efforts with gun and drug smuggling between Kingston and London (resulting in a letter of commendation from his superior), and four days of black ops reconnaissance in Cuba, penetrating military compounds.

He then was appointed Senior Advisor at the British Embassy in Rome. Lachlan was promoted to Ops Specialist simultaneous with this posting. Although based nominally in Rome, his duties took him to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, France, Spain, China and the United States. He worked back-channel sources to aid in solving the U.S.-China spy plane incident between the U.S. and China. Lachlan worked with his former Special Forces Unit to penetrate and gain intelligence on Iraqi military and suspected unconventional weapons installations in late-2002 and early-2003. Afterwards, Lachlan was posted to the MI6 headquarters in London, where he continues to work as a Mission Specialist (within Black Ops) in such locations as Cuba, the United States, Austria, Spain, Russia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, the Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.

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