Lt Col. Tom McDermott DSO MA joined the British Army in 2001. Through fourteen years' service he has operated from the tactical to the strategic. He took part in the 2003 Iraq invasion as a tank commander, and has worked in both the EU Military HQ in Brussels and within highly-sensitive MOD departments. In 2011 he attended the Australian Command and Staff College in Canberra, where he gained an MA in Strategy and Policy and was awarded the Governor General's Prize as the best student.

In recent years he has specialised in the NATO operation in Afghanistan, planning and coordinated high-tempo strike operations throughout the country. In 2013 he commanded the Reconnaissance Force for the UK's 7th Armoured Brigade (the Desert Rats), where he led 50 air-mobile missions. For this he was awarded the UK's Distinguished Service Order. Maj McDermott has most recently been employed as an Instructor at the Defence Academy of the UK, specialising in leadership and land warfare. In October 2015 he transferred to the Australian Army.