Tommy Jackson was born in Ripon in Yorkshire. In 1977 he joined the Royal Irish Rangers as an infantry soldier. He transferred to the Bugles Pipes and drums in 1978. He has attended two Senior Pipers courses, a Piobaireachd Course and a Pipe Majors Course at the Army School of Piping in Edinburgh Castle. He instructed at the Army School of Piping at Glen course in Scotland for 2 years. In 1989 he became the Pipe Major of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers. In 1993 on the amalgamation with the Ulster Defence Regiment he was the first Pipe Major of the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment. He left the Army in 1995.
