The tour was shortened to attend the Indian Defence Services Staff College, in South India for a year in 1975.
On completion of Staff College, a return to flying duties on the new single-seat Jaguar aircraft followed, first as a Deputy OC No 41 (F) Sqn based at RAF Coltishall, where he was awarded a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air.
[4] Thorn next held an appointment at the Training Command HQ before attending the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) in London during the year 1990.
Thorn is renowned for his '9 lives' after surviving 10 major airborne emergencies: After he had prematurely retired from the RAF having achieved over 8,000 single seat flying hours and a total of 123 parachute descents, Thorn joined De Beers as the Head of Security for the Diamond Company with worldwide responsibility.
At the same time he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training) Branch in December 1995 with the rank of flying officer.
[6] In December 1997 he was awarded a Green Endorsement for an instance of Exceptional Flying Skill and Judgement when flying with an Air Training Corps (ATC) cadet in a RAF Tutor aircraft he successfully completed a forced landing back onto the airfield from 350 feet after the engine had failed and the propeller stopped.
In 2005, he retired from De Beers at the age of 60 years and formed his own Security Consultancy Company dealing with the Jewellery Retail Trade and Diamond/Gold Mines.