Phil Dennis joined the Royal Navy in 1995, his early career was spent in destroyers, frigates and aircraft carriers deployed on operations to the Adriatic and Middle East. In 2009 he took the role of Deputy Staff Officer Operations to the UKMCC in Bahrain, returning in 2010 as command of HMS MIDDLETON and in 2011 as command of HMS QUORN. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the September 2012 Operational Honours and Awards List.

After completing the Advanced Command and Staff Course in 2013 he worked on the Middle East Operations Team at the Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood. He commanded HMS DARING from May 2014 until January 2017, culminating in a deployment to the Middle East. This busy operational period saw the ship operate in the Bab al Mandeb to protect allied shipping at the height of the Yemen crisis.

As the Navy’s Fleet Operations Officer at Northwood HQ from 2017 to 2019, he supported the United Kingdom’s response in the Caribbean to hurricanes IRMA and MARIA, along with persistent operations in the North Atlantic. On promotion to Captain, he joined the staff of the Commander Amphibious Task Group as the Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff. He deployed to the Caribbean as Task Group Commander in RFA ARGUS in April 2020 as part of an enhanced national response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He assumed Command as UKMCC in Bahrain in January 2023.

He is a member of the Royal College of Defence Studies and a graduate of the US Naval War College CFMCC Flag Course.

He is the secretary of the Royal Navy Destroyer Club and is married with one young daughter.