James Bucknall

Lieutenant General James Jeffrey Corfield Bucknall,^[1] CBE, OW (born 1958^[2]) is a British Army officer and currently Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

Military career

Bucknall graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned into Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards as a second lieutenant on a short service commission on 8 April 1978.^[1] His first promotion was to lieutenant in April 1980.^[3] He transferred from a short service commission to a regular commission in 1983, retaining seniority in his rank,^[4] before promotion to captain in October 1984.^[5]

After attending the Staff College, Camberley,^[2] Bucknall attained field officer status with promotion to major in September 1990.^[6] He took up a company command, after which he served in a staff post at HQ Northern Ireland,^[2] and was Mentioned in Despatches in recognition of his services in the province.^[7] He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1995,^[8] prior to assuming command of 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards in Germany. In 1998, he was appointed chief of staff of 1st Armoured Division, and deployed to Bosnia to join the division.^[2]

He was promoted to colonel in 1999^[9] and, after completing the Higher Command and Staff Course,^[2] to brigadier on 31 December 2001, with seniority from 30 June 2001.^[10] Bucknall returned to Northern Ireland in 2003, taking command of 39 Infantry Brigade, with responsibility for Belfast and the surrounding area during The Troubles.^[2] In recognition of "gallant and distinguished services" while commanding 39 Brigade, Bucknall was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).^[11] After Northern Ireland, Bucknall was assigned to the Ministry of Defence in London as Director Counter-Terrorism and UK Operations, after which he served in a staff position in Baghdad with responsibility for strategic planning,^[2] for which he was later awarded the American Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer), "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations", and granted unrestricted permission to wear the decoration on his uniform.^[12]

High command

Bucknall attained general officer status with promotion to major general on 18 September 2006, whereupon he was appointed Chief of Staff of NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps^[13] and initially deployed to Afghanistan to join, becoming chief of staff to ISAF IX, led by the ARRC.^[2] He was appointed honorary colonel of the Coldstream Guards in October 2009, in succession to Sir Michael Rose.^[14] From 2009 to 2010, Bucknall served as an Assistant Chief of the General Staff.^[2]

Bucknall was promoted to Lieutenant General on 31 August 2010.^[15] He was appointed Deputy Commander of the International Security Assistance Force—second in command of 130,000 troops from 48 countries^[16]—and United Kingdom National Contingent Commander, Kabul—overall commander of all British forces in Afghanistan—succeeding General Sir Nick Parker.^[17] While in Afghanistan, Bucknall emphasised that a continued effort was required to maintain the momentum in improving the security situation in the country, saying "progress is not irreversible, we are yet to make it so. But we are certainly on the right track".^[18] In February 2011 he became Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.^[19]

Personal life

Bucknall was educated at Winchester College, an independent boys' school in Hampshire. He lists his interests as history, field sports, cricket and association football, supporting Newcastle United F.C..^[2]

References