News
October 28th 2021
New Colonel Cadets East Midlands
Leona Barr-Jones, Colonel Cadets (East Midlands)
Colonel Leona Barr-Jones has been appointed Colonel Cadets (East Midlands) 7 Brigade. Following her time as Commandant Essex Army Cadet Force and many years service in both Regular and Reserves Army, Leona brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the RFCA. She was named the IoD Director of the Year 2019 for Inclusivity and is the winner of the Soldiering On Awards 2020 Defence Inclusivity Award for over 20 years work on Inclusive Leadership within Defence.
It has been quite the journey for Colonel Barr-Jones to her most recent position as Colonel Cadets (East Midlands). Leona graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) in 1991, serving as a Military Instructor in Phase 1 and Phase 2 Training. She also served with the British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) in South Africa, and was awarded the UNITAS medal and Wilkinson Sword of Peace. At Regimental Duty, she served with 40th Regt Royal Artillery and 14 Signal Regt (Electronic Warfare), and was Officer Commanding at the Defence College of Policing and Personnel Administration (DCPPA) with operational tours of Bosnia and Kosovo.
At staff, she served in 2 Infantry Brigade, Army HQ and MoD HQ, Whitehall in People Strategy, Defence Diplomacy, International Policy & Planning. As an Army Reservist, she was Head of Training at Cambridge University Officer Training Corps (CUOTC) and worked at Army HQ as the Reserve Employment Liaison Officer (RELO) for Sodexo, helping set up the Defence Relationship Management (DRM) and Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS). After completing the Advance Command and Staff Course (Reserves) at the Defence Academy, she was appointed as SO1 Command Support Reserves at the Army Personnel Centre (APC) and is still a serving Army Reservist. Following two years as Deputy Commandant (Training), Colonel Barr-Jones was appointed as Commandant Essex Army Cadet Force (ACF). She was a co-founder of the ACF Step Change Diversity and Inclusion project and is Chair of the ACF LGBT+ Forum and an anti-bullying Diversity RM Role Model.
Education and Awards
Col Barr-Jones holds post-graduate Diplomas and Masters’ Degrees in Strategic Direction, Leadership and Management from Cranfield University, King’s College London and Manchester Business School (MBS). She is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (FIoD), the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and the Institute of Leadership and Management (FInstLM). She is a Graduate Member of the City and Guilds Institute (MCGI), a Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers.
Col Barr-Jones sits on the East of England Veteran’s Pension Advisory Committee, she is an X-Forces Enterprise Ambassador, IoD East of England Ambassador for Diversity and Inclusion and the Armed Forces. Col Barr-Jones was named the IoD Director of the Year 2019 for Inclusivity. Leona is the winner of the Soldiering On Awards 2020 Defence Inclusivity Award for over twenty years work on Inclusive Leadership within Defence. She was appointed as Colonel Cadets (East Midlands) 7th Infantry Brigade in September 2021.
