Nick Welch (British Army officer)

Welch was commissioned into the Gloucestershire Regiment on 20 April 1984.[1] His deployments included Berlin, Northern Ireland and Belize.[2]

Welch became commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment in 2002[3] and having been promoted to colonel on 30 June 2006,[4] he became commander of 7 Armoured Brigade based in Bergen-Hohne, Germany in March 2009.[5] He was deployed with 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade as the deputy commander of Regional Command (South West) in Afghanistan in September 2011[6] and briefly served as Deputy Director of Strategic Studies in the Ministry of Defence before becoming Director Army Division at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in August 2012.[7] He went on to be Chief of Staff, Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in July 2014[5] and Assistant Chief of the General Staff in December 2015.[8][9]

Welch was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service for service in the former Yugoslavia in March 2005.[10] He was appointed to a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2001 New Year Honours[11] and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 New Year Honours.[12]