The Armed Forces Community behind IG27
This Armed Forces Week, we are recognising the vital contribution of the brilliant current and former military personnel in its executive team.
Their lived experience, skills and perspectives — shaped through service — help us deliver the best possible Games for the wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans we serve. To mark the week, we’re sharing the stories of just some of the people helping bring Birmingham 2027 to life.
Capt Lee Hazard
From service to special projects
Lee Hazard joined the Royal Anglian Regiment straight from school, an experience that gave him the focus and direction he had not found in education.
While serving, he retook his GCSEs, achieving strong results, before transferring to the Royal Navy. He went on to complete his medical and Commando training and was commissioned in 1999, deploying on operations around the world.
Today, Lee continues to serve as Head of Medical Services Specialisation for the Royal Navy and King’s Honorary Physician. Alongside this, he is Director of Special Projects for Invictus Games Birmingham 2027, where he leads the Flag Journey and schools engagement programme.
The Flag Journey carries the Invictus spirit across the UK and beyond, using the flag as a symbol of service, recovery and resilience, connecting communities, schools, veterans and serving personnel ahead of Birmingham 2027.
The schools engagement programme works directly with young people, using Invictus stories and values to inspire confidence, ambition and resilience, and encouraging them to see adversity as something that can be overcome.
His career reflects a consistent willingness to take on new challenges and “say yes to what comes next”.
Lt Col Tim James
A final posting before transition
Tim James is currently serving on a two-year secondment from the Ministry of Defence, with Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 forming his final posting before leaving the British Army.
His career includes operational deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia, alongside four years in the United States, including time at US Central Command. He specialises in Strategic Communications and has led delivery of major national commemorations, including the 75th anniversaries of D-Day, VE and VJ Day, as well as supporting the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. He was awarded an OBE in 2022.
Tim has longstanding involvement with the Invictus Games, having served as communications lead and Chief of Staff to the Head of Delegation for Team UK. He attended the Sydney 2018 Games and supported the UK Trials in Sheffield in 2019.
In his current role as Deputy Director of Partners & Participating Nations, he works closely with international team managers and delegations across the Invictus community, supporting coordination, engagement and delivery across participating nations.
Tim said: “Being part of the team helping to organise the 2027 Invictus Games is a career highlight and a real privilege. As I come to the end of my military service, planning and delivering a world-class Games is a fitting way of supporting those I have served alongside. I am incredibly fortunate and thankful to the Army for giving me this opportunity.”
Gp Capt Jules Merrison
From Operational theatre to Birmingham
Group Captain Jules Merrison has over 20 years of experience in the Royal Air Force Medical Services, working across joint and international environments in operational planning and aeromedical evacuation roles.
Her career has included operational tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, alongside NATO postings in Belgium and the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, supporting complex multinational medical operations.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was seconded to the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters as Competent Medical Authority, leading the medical response across approximately 30 operational theatres.
In 2021, she assumed command of Tactical Medical Wing at RAF Brize Norton, overseeing specialist training and the UK’s aeromedical evacuation capability, ensuring critically injured personnel could be safely repatriated and treated.
A defining thread throughout her career has been the evacuation of seriously injured personnel directly to Birmingham for life-saving treatment and the start of their recovery journeys — a connection that gives the city deep personal meaning for her and many of her colleagues.
She is now seconded to the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 Executive Team for three years, bringing her operational and medical expertise to support delivery of the Games and the wider Invictus community.
Jules said: “I have had the privilege of working alongside the most amazing clinicians, delivering Defence’s aeromedical evacuation service; caring for patients from point of injury in deployed locations, through their journey home on aircraft, and back to the UK. For patients severely injured during Op TELIC and HERRICK years especially, we flew them directly to Birmingham for life-saving treatment and to start their recovery journeys. As a result, Birmingham is a place that holds deep significance and emotion - not only for me, but for so many colleagues from Defence Medical Command.”
Gavin Saunders
Service, recovery and return
Gavin Saunders joined the British Army as an Infantry Officer in 1990, serving across Germany, the Falklands and beyond in operational, diplomatic and strategic roles — including Operations Director, Chief of Staff, Defence Diplomat and lead for Army organisational learning.
Following a serious injury, he took part in the 2019 UK Invictus Games trials during his recovery journey, gaining first-hand insight into the impact the Games can have on recovery, confidence and identity.
That experience strengthened his connection to the Invictus mission, and he has since continued to give back through senior delivery roles within the movement.
He has served as Invictus Chief of Staff in 2022, 2023 and 2025, supporting continuity and coordination across multiple Games cycles.
He is now the key link between the Ministry of Defence and Invictus Games Birmingham 2027, working across both organisations to support alignment, engagement and delivery, and ensuring effective coordination between military stakeholders and the Games delivery team.