Richard Shirreff Explained

Sir Richard Shirreff
Birth Name:Alexander Richard David Shirreff
Birth Date:21 October 1955[1]
Birth Place:Kenya Colony
Allegiance:United Kingdom
Branch:British Army
Serviceyears:1976–2014
Rank:General
Commands:Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe
Allied Rapid Reaction Corps
3rd Mechanised Division
7th Armoured Brigade
King's Royal Hussars
Battles:The Troubles
Gulf War
Iraq War
Awards:Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service

General Sir Alexander Richard David Shirreff, (born 21 October 1955) is a retired senior British Army officer and author. From March 2011 to March 2014 he served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

Early and personal life

Shirreff was born in Kenya, the son of Alexander David Shirreff of the 5th Battalion King's African Rifles. He was educated at Oundle School, then an all-boys private school in Northamptonshire.[2]

Shirreff was commissioned into the 14th/20th King's Hussars as a second lieutenant on probation (university cadetship) on 3 September 1976. While sponsored through university by the British Army, he studied modern history at Exeter College, Oxford (BA, MA).[3] [4] He was confirmed as a second lieutenant on probation and as a second lieutenant (seniority from 1 February 1974) on 18 June 1977 and simultaneously promoted to lieutenant from the same date (seniority from 1 February 1976).

Military career

Shirreff was promoted to captain on 1 August 1980, and to major on 30 September 1987. Having seen active service during the Gulf War in 1991, Shirreff was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 June 1992, and was appointed commanding officer of the King's Royal Hussars in 1994.[5] He deployed with his Regiment to Northern Ireland in 1995, for which Shirreff was awarded a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service. Promoted to colonel – Army Plans at the Ministry of Defence on 30 June of the following year,[6] he was advanced to brigadier on 30 June 1998. He was appointed Commander of 7th Armoured Brigade, which was deployed to Kosovo,[5] and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in April 2001 in recognition of his service.

Shirreff was promoted to major general on 9 May 2003 and became Chief of Staff at Land Command and in 2005 he became General Officer Commanding 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division, which deployed as HQ Multinational Division South East in Iraq in July 2006.[2] In January 2007 he was appointed Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps,[7] and was promoted to lieutenant general on 13 December of that year. Shirreff was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2010 New Year Honours.

On 11 January 2010, Shirreff gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry.[8] On 4 March 2011 he became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe and was promoted to full general.[9] He retired from that post in March 2014.[10]

Shirreff is currently the honorary colonel of Oxford University OTC[11] and served as the Honorary Colonel to the Royal Wessex Yeomanry from 2005 to 2015. He also served a term as Colonel Commandant (Cavalry) of the Royal Armoured Corps from 2004 and as Colonel of the Kings Royal Hussars from 2012 to 2017.[12]

Post-military career

Shirreff is an Advisory Board member of the non-for profit security organisation Genderforce, aiming to fight and prevent acts of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.[13] [14] He is a founding partner of Strategia Worldwide, a risk management consultancy founded in 2016.[15]

In 2016, Shirreff published a book entitled 2017: War with Russia: An Urgent Warning from Senior Military Command. The part-fictional book suggests that Russia could easily invade the Baltic States, that war between Russia and NATO would be possible, and implies strongly that Shirreff finds military high command and government incapable of creating a suitable response.[16] It also alleges that former Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond, tried to court-martial him when he spoke up on British defence cuts.[17] [18] [19]

Shirreff's commentaries on foreign militaries, such as his assessment on the strategic weaknesses of Russia's armed forces, have been distributed by news agencies such as Times Radio.[20]

References

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Notes and References

  1. News: Whitworth. Damian. Make no mistake: if Russia marches into the Baltics it means nuclear war. 3 January 2018. The Times. 21 May 2016.
  2. http://www.arrc.nato.int/alliedrapidreactioncorps/page37703459.aspx ARRC biography
  3. http://www.exetermcr.com/node/919 Exeter College, Oxford
  4. Web site: Shirreff, Gen. Sir (Alexander) Richard (David), (born 21 Oct. 1955), Founder and Managing Partner, Strategia Worldwide Ltd, since 2016 . . Oxford University Press . 24 February 2022 . en . 1 December 2021.
  5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6212599.stm Profile: Major General Richard Shirreff
  6. http://www.nato.int/kfor/structur/whoswho/cv/bio_shirreff.htm KFOR structure
  7. http://www.arrc.nato.int/alliedrapidreactioncorps/page21741950.aspx ARRC
  8. News: Iraq inquiry awaits 'big fish' Blair and Campbell. 8 January 2010. BBC News. BBC. 29 January 2010.
  9. http://www.acus.org/natosource/new-deputy-supreme-allied-commander-europe-dsaceur-appointed New Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe Appointed
  10. Web site: General Sir Adrian Bradshaw becomes the 28th DSACEUR. 30 March 2014.
  11. http://www.aco.nato.int/page1532916.aspx Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe
  12. Web site: Royal Armoured Corps. Ministry of Defence. 5 February 2018.
  13. News: Britain has become 'semi-pacifist' under Cameron, says retired general as he warns of war with Russia . The Daily Telegraph. 18 May 2016 . 19 May 2016. Whitehead . Tom .
  14. Web site: Advisory Board Member – Sir Richard Shirreff. Genderforce C.I.C.. 2 November 2014.
  15. Web site: About Us . . Strategia Worldwide . 22 March 2018 .
  16. Book: GENERAL SIR RICHARD. SHIRREFF. 2017 War with Russia. 2017. Hodder & Stoughton. 978-1-4736-5482-2. 30, 196, 324.
  17. News: Britain has become 'semi-pacifist' under Cameron, says retired general as he warns of war with Russia. The Daily Telegraph. 18 May 2016. 19 May 2016. Whitehead. Tom.
  18. News: General warned of nuclear war to pay mortgage . The Daily Telegraph. 20 May 2016 . 20 May 2016. Holehouse . Matthew .
  19. Web site: Former Nato commander's new book predicts invasion of Baltic as Putin bids to 'make Russia a great power again'. The Independent. 18 May 2016. 23 May 2016.
  20. News: 'Putin’s invasion will crumble if Nato continues support' - General Sir Richard Shirreff. 1 December 2022. 5 December 2022. Times Radio.