Robert Driscoll was born in Roehampton, south-west London, in May 1976 to Tina, a dental nurse, and Clive Driscoll, an aspiring constable with the Metropolitan Police (he was to retire as a detective chief inspector).
Robert joined the Royal Marines in February 1998. Having completed Commando training, jungle training and Arctic training; he went on to serve on operations in Kosovo (1999), Afghanistan (2002) and Iraq (2003), before leaving the Marines and following his father into the Metropolitan Police. After his initial police training (2004), he was posted to Southwark Borough South and cut his teeth as a police officer on the streets of Peckham, south-east London.
In 2005, with the war in Afghanistan intensifying, it wasn't long before the lure of active service pulled Robert back to his beloved Royal Marines. On his return to the Corps, he quickly found himself deployed around the world, serving within the Royal Marines and UK Special Forces group; he was to finish his military career with Juliet Company, 42 Commando RM, on Operation Herrick 14 in Afghanistan (2011), his third tour in that country, for which he received a Mention in Despatches.