Former British Army officer James Herbert now leads by example far beyond the barracks – in fact, his “troops” today are global maritime responders, and his new battlefield is the high-stakes world of salvage and sea rescue.
After serving over a decade in the Army, Herbert has built a second career orchestrating crisis responses for the international maritime community. At 60, the veteran finds himself not in uniform but in corporate boardrooms and coastal command centres, coordinating efforts to save lives, ships, and oceans. His journey from military life to maritime leadership showcases how skills forged on the battlefield can steer a course to success on the high seas.
Duty and discipline: 15 years a soldier
Herbert’s story begins in the 1980s, when he joined the British Army as a young officer. Over 15 years of service, he honed a calm command under pressure, clear communication, and a mission-first mindset. From leading soldiers on training exercises to handling real emergencies, he learned the value of quick decision-making and teamwork. “In the Army you quickly realise the importance of staying cool-headed when chaos erupts,” Herbert recalls. Little did he know how crucial that skill would become later in civilian life. By the time he hung up his uniform in the mid-1990s, Herbert had risen through the ranks and earned a reputation as an officer who could thrive under pressure – whether coordinating a complex field operation or briefing senior commanders on critical situations.
Yet even as he relished military life, Herbert felt the pull of new challenges. Approaching his 40s, he started contemplating a second act. “I loved my time in uniform, but I was eager to test myself in the civilian world,” he says. Like many long-serving soldiers, he wondered how – or if – his Army experience would translate outside the wire. The thought of leaving the only career he’d ever known was daunting. The safety, structure, and camaraderie of military life are not easy to give up, as Herbert notes. But armed with determination and a cache of transferable skills, he made the leap. In 1997, Captain James Herbert marched out of camp for the last time, both nervous and excited for what lay ahead.
New frontiers: from camouflage to communications
Trading camouflage fatigues for a journalist’s notepad, Herbert embarked on an unlikely new path – broadcasting. He retrained with the BBC, learning the ropes of media and communication. It was a bold shift from military engineering drills to newsroom deadlines. Yet Herbert quickly discovered parallels between the two worlds. “Defusing a media storm isn’t so different from a military operation – you stay calm, gather intel, and act decisively,” he notes with a smile. His discipline and clarity under pressure served him well as a BBC journalist, where he often had to explain complex issues succinctly and accurately – much like giving an operations brief to troops.
After a successful stint in journalism, Herbert’s growing expertise in crisis communication caught the eye of the corporate world. He was recruited by Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world’s largest energy companies, to help manage its media relations. In this role, Herbert often stood at the forefront of major maritime incidents – handling communications for oil tanker spills, shipping accidents, and environmental emergencies. His military-bred composure became his trademark. Colleagues remember him as the one who could calmly brief a room full of executives and reporters even as news of an unfolding oil spill hit the airwaves. “He was unflappable when others were panicking,” one former coworker observed, “just like a field commander rallying the troops in a crisis.” Herbert rose to become Shell’s head of group media relations, handling numerous high-pressure incidents involving the company’s fleet. Each emergency, he says, felt like a mission: protect people, protect the environment, and get the facts out straight. And just as in the Army, failure was not an option.
By the early 2000s, Herbert’s unique blend of military and media experience had made him a sought-after specialist in maritime crisis management. He spent a period as a senior UK civil servant working on emergency planning, further broadening his strategic skills. But his entrepreneurial spirit was calling. In 2005, Herbert took another leap – founding his own communications consultancy focused on the shipping and marine sector. Over the next decade, he travelled the globe at a moment’s notice, responding to shipwrecks, collisions, and environmental disasters. From coordinating the response to a cargo ship grounding on a reef, to advising shipping lines during piracy incidents, Herbert became a go-to problem solver for when things went wrong at sea.
Steering through storms: thriving in the maritime sector
Herbert’s second career reached full steam as he carved out a niche at the nexus of maritime operations and crisis communications. Operating his consultancy often felt like commanding a rapid-deployment unit – except instead of soldiers, his teams included salvage masters, lawyers, and coastguard officials. He personally helped manage the fallout of more than 400 maritime incidents around the world. “I’ve been on scuttled tankers in Asia, on container ships after fires in the Med, you name it,” he laughs. His military training to improvise, adapt, and overcome proved invaluable. In one case, Herbert flew into a West African nation overnight after a devastating ship explosion. With local authorities overwhelmed, he drew on his Army incident-command skills to set up an impromptu coordination centre, ensuring that rescuers, port officials, and company reps all worked from the same game plan. It was, as he describes, “like establishing a field HQ on foreign soil – except the battlefield was an oil terminal.”
Herbert’s calm leadership under duress won the respect of veteran mariners. Salvage crews and ship captains are not easily impressed by outsiders, but Herbert earned credibility by rolling up his sleeves. He often deployed on-site during shipwreck salvage operations, donning a hard hat and climbing through twisted steel alongside divers and naval architects. One salvage captain recalls Herbert emerging from a half-sunken engine room, covered in oil and grime, to give a press briefing: “He could speak the language of sailors because he wasn’t afraid to get his boots wet.” In those moments, the lines between soldier and civilian faded – it was simply an experienced leader solving a problem and keeping his team focused in a high-stress environment, just as he had in uniform.
His expertise also led him to become an author and industry thought leader. Herbert published influential articles on communication in marine casualties, sharing lessons on how openness and integrity can save reputations (and sometimes lives) during maritime crises. The same values of honesty and duty that the Army instilled in him became cornerstones of his approach to corporate emergencies. He frequently emphasises to shipping executives that “doing the right thing” – whether it’s prompt rescue efforts or transparent public communication – is not just ethical, but ultimately the best strategy for all involved. It’s a form of moral leadership clearly shaped by his military past.
A new command: leading the Salvage Union
In 2022, James Herbert took on what he only half-jokingly calls “his third career.” He was appointed secretary general of the International Salvage Union (ISU), the global trade body that represents professional salvors. In this role, Herbert now champions the very industry he worked alongside for years. It’s a position requiring diplomacy, strategic vision, and deep knowledge of maritime affairs – a perfect storm of all his previous experiences. If his Army days taught him leadership and his communications career taught him negotiation, the ISU post allows him to use both in service of a mission he’s passionate about: supporting the unsung heroes who save lives and protect the marine environment.
Stepping into the secretary general role, Herbert hit the ground running. He combined his new duties with his ongoing communications advisor role, reflecting the trust ISU placed in his abilities. Immediately, he launched initiatives to improve safety for salvage crews and to lobby governments for better support and recognition of salvage services. One of the first crises under his watch was coordinating industry input during a spate of lithium battery fires on cargo ships – a modern danger to which salvors must adapt. Herbert brought together engineers, insurers, and naval officers to develop guidelines for these complex fires, much like orchestrating a coalition task force. His colleagues on the ISU executive committee, many of them hard-bitten salvage masters, have praised the veteran’s clear-headed approach. “James has this knack for cutting through noise and focusing on what matters – it keeps us all on course,” notes Captain Nicholas Sloane, a famed salvage master and past ISU president.
Under Herbert’s leadership, the ISU has also intensified its emphasis on environmental protection. Salvors don’t just save ships; they prevent pollution by averting oil spills and removing wrecks. Herbert, who as a soldier once helped deliver aid after natural disasters, finds a renewed sense of duty in this aspect. “In a way, we’re still rescuing people – just now it’s coastal communities and marine wildlife,” he reflects. He often reminds stakeholders that salvage work has immense environmental and economic value, citing how ISU members collectively prevent millions of tonnes of pollutants from reaching oceans each year. In international forums, the former Army officer’s authoritative voice carries weight; he speaks not just from a policy angle but from personal experience in the field. Whether addressing the IMO (International Maritime Organization) or briefing a parliamentary committee, Herbert projects the confidence of a commander – one whose battle now is against marine peril.
Serving again by inspiring others
Even as he steers a global industry, James Herbert hasn’t forgotten his roots or his fellow veterans. Much like he once led young soldiers, he now mentors ex-military personnel who are considering careers in maritime and logistics. He is a living example that the end of military service can be the beginning of something just as purposeful. Herbert often speaks at veteran transition workshops, sharing his story to illustrate how adaptable military skills truly are. “If you can manage a platoon in a conflict zone, you can certainly manage a crisis team in a boardroom,” he tells service leavers with a grin. His own path – from the parade ground to corporate HQ to the helm of an international organisation – shows that there are no limits for those willing to keep learning.
Herbert is particularly passionate about encouraging veterans to look at sectors they might not have considered, such as maritime trade, offshore energy, or global logistics. These fields “are crying out for leadership, discipline and technical know-how – all things ex-forces folks have in spades,” he points out. With governments and industries focused on supply chain security and environmental challenges, he believes veterans can play key roles. In fact, Herbert credits his military mindset for allowing him to navigate the uncertainties of civilian life: “The Army taught me adaptability. Every time I faced a career fork – journalism, oil industry, my own business – I treated it like a new deployment. Recon the terrain, make a plan, and give it 100%.” It’s advice he now passes to others making the often anxiety-inducing shift out of uniform.
Looking back, James Herbert sees a clear thread running through his two very different careers. In the Army, he led soldiers to accomplish tough missions under tough conditions. In the maritime world, he leads coalitions to respond to disasters and improve safety. The tools and context changed, but the core purpose – protecting others and serving a greater good – remained. As secretary general of the ISU, Herbert continues to serve, albeit with pen and phone instead of rifle and radio. He finds deep satisfaction in knowing that each day, his work helps mariners come home safely and shields coastlines from harm. “Leaving the Army wasn’t the end of service for me; it was just a new way of serving,” he says proudly.
Herbert’s success is a testament to the idea that military-learned skills are not only transferable, but often highly sought-after in civilian life. His journey encourages fellow ex-forces personnel to aim high and think globally. From battlefields to stormy seas, James Herbert has shown that with resilience, integrity, and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone, life after the military can be an adventure as rewarding as life in uniform. And as he often reminds his peers: “Your last posting may be behind you, but your biggest impact could still lie ahead.”
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