Patrick Sanders (British Army officer)

Patrick Sanders
Allegiance United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1984 – present
Rank Major-General
Commands held 4th Bn The Rifles
20th Armoured Brigade
Battles/wars The Troubles
Kosovo War
Iraq War
War in Afghanistan
Awards Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order

Major-General Patrick Nicholas Yardley Monrad Sanders CBE, DSO is a British Army officer. He is currently General Officer Commanding the 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division.

Military career

Educated at Worth School and the University of Exeter,[1] Sanders was commissioned into the Royal Green Jackets on 23 September 1984.[2] He served as a junior officer in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and then undertook tours in Kosovo in 1999 and in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2001.[1] He became Chief of Staff of 1st Mechanised Brigade in 2002 and then became commanding officer of 2nd Battalion the Royal Green Jackets in 2005.[1] In the latter role he managed the transition of his battalion to become 4th Battalion The Rifles and then saw action with his battalion at the siege of UK bases in Basra in 2007 during the Iraq War.[3]

Sanders became commander of 20th Armoured Brigade in August 2009,[4] in which role he was deployed to command British troops in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in late 2011,[3] Chief of the Liaison Officer to the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee in 2012 and Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) in March 2013.[5]

In Spring 2014 Sanders took part in the Prime Minister's Cobra meetings on the floods crisis.[3] He took over command of the 3rd Division in April 2015.[6]

He was awarded the DSO for service in Iraq on 25 July 2008.[7]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Major-General Patrick Sanders" (PDF). Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  2. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49939. p. 16021. 26 November 1984. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "UK floods: Iraq war veteran Maj Gen Patrick Sanders leads military flood response". The Telegraph. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  4. "Senior Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  5. "Army Commands" (PDF). Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  6. "Court & Social". The Times. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  7. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58776. p. 11244. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
Military offices
Preceded by
James Cowan
General Officer Commanding the 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division
2015
Succeeded by
Incumbent