Lieutenant Colonel Gary Spencer ROWE is the first Commanding Officer of the newly formed Combat Support Battalion.

Lieutenant Colonel ROWE attended the College of Arts Science and Technology (presently UTECH) after graduating from Wolmers Boys School in 1983. He joined the Jamaica Defence Force in 1987 and attended Basic Officer Training in Canada at the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Chilliwack, British Columbia and Gagetown, New Brunswick where he graduated as a qualified mechanized/ arctic warfare platoon commander.  On returning to Jamaica in 1988 he was commissioned to the rank of Second Lieutenant. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 07 September, 1989, Captain on 07 September 1992, Major on 07 September 1997, and to his present rank 02 December 2008.

After successfully completing his initial officer training at CFB Gagetown he was posted to the Second Battalion Jamaica Regiment. In 1989 he attended and successfully completed the Intelligence Officers course, Ashford in Kent, England. Lieutenant Colonel Rowe was an Honour graduate on the Engineer Officers Advanced Course 1996, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, USA. In 2003, he participated in the 101st International Military Course on the law of Armed Conflict in Sanremo, Italy. Lieutenant Colonel Rowe successfully completed the requirement for Planning Peace Operations Course in Monterey, California (2004), a seminar on Civil Military Reponses to Terrorism (2005), the International Civil Aviation Organization Security Crisis Management Course (2006) and the United States War College Developing Grand Strategy and Capabilities-Based Planning (2007). He also completed a seminar in Piracy, Terrorism, and Port Security in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 2009.

Lieutenant Colonel Rowe is a graduate of the Junior Command and Staff Course (1993), New Castle and the Joint Services Command and Staff College (2006) in Swindon, UK. He has a Diploma in Human Resource Development and holds a Masters Degree in Defence Studies from Kings College London, England.

Lieutenant Colonel Rowe is the recipient of the Medal of Honour for General Service and he was awarded the United States Army Commendation Medal for exceptional meritorious service. He is also a recipient of the National Honors and Awards Medal of Honour for Meritorious Services (2009).