West was born on 21 April 1948 in Lambeth, London, and was educated at Windsor Grammar School (now known as The Windsor Boys' School) and Clydebank High School. He joined Britannia Royal Naval College in 1965 and served in HMS "Albion" during her standby duty for the Nigerian Civil War and circumnavigated the globe in HMS "Whitby", taking part in the Beira Patrol. He was confirmed as a sub-lieutenant on 1 September 1969, and promoted to lieutenant on 1 May 1970. After his command of the Ton-class minesweeper HMS "Yarnton" in Hong Kong in 1973, he qualified as a principal warfare officer in 1975 and then served as operations officer in the frigate HMS "Juno" in 1976 and then the frigate HMS "Ambuscade" in 1977. Promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 April 1978, he attended the Royal Navy Staff College that year and then qualified as an advanced warfare officer before being posted to the destroyer HMS "Norfolk" in 1979.