Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Edward Adam Butler (born 27 February 1962) is a former

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who commanded Task Force Helmand, and serves as Prime Warden Goldsmith for 2025/26.

Early life

The younger son of the Rt Hon. Sir Adam Butler and Felicity Molesworth-St Aubyn, his grandfather was the prominent Conservative politician "Rab" Butler (''later'' Lord Butler of Saffron Walden KG). Butler was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

before going up to read Politics and International Relations at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

(graduating BA in 1983). He later pursued postgraduate studies at

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

(taking an MA in 2003).

Military career

In August 1984, Butler was commissioned into the

Royal Green Jackets The Royal Green Jackets (RGJ) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, one of two "large regiments" within the Light Division (the other being The Light Infantry). History The Royal Green Jackets was formed on 1 January 1966 by the amalgam ...

. He was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

while on active service in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in November 1991 and twice received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service; first for his service in the former Republic of Yugoslavia in the Autumn of 1997 and again for his service in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

in summer 2000. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

for his actions in Afghanistan as the

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of 22

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

during 2001 and 2002. He became Commander of

16 Air Assault Brigade 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, known simply as 16 Air Assault Brigade from 1999–2021, is a formation of the British Army predominantly based in Colchester, Essex. It makes up the Air Assault Task Force, a battlegroup held at high readines ...

in 2004, in which role he was deployed as Commander of Task Force Helmand in April 2006. He went on to be Chief, Joint Force Operations at

Permanent Joint Headquarters The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London. The Permanent Joint Headqua ...

in December 2006 before retiring in December 2008, citing family reasons. After leaving the

Butler became Chief Executive of Corporates for Crisis (2008−11), a business providing advice for companies operating in difficult places, and then Chairman of and latterly Senior Advisor to S-RM, an intelligence and risk consulting business. In July 2019 he was interviewed for a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

'' programme, as Head of Risk Analysis (Chief Resilience Officer) at

Pool Re Pool Reinsurance Company Limited, also known as Pool Re, was set up in 1993 by the insurance industry in cooperation with the UK Government in the wake of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, IRA Baltic Exchange bomb, bombing of the Baltic Excha ...

, working there until 2022. Since 2016 Butler has served as a Senior Independent Advisor to EDF Energy Nuclear Generation, and as a Senior Advisor to reinsurance brokers Northcourt Ltd and Gallos Technologies since 2022.

Personal life

On 7 September 1991 he married Sophie Rose, granddaughter of Sir Alec Rose. Brigadier Butler and his wife have two children: * Robin, born 1994; * Octavia, born 1996. His family descends in the male line from Sir Philip Butler (1489−1545), progenitor of the Barons Boteler.'' Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 616

Honours and arms

Brigadier Butler has received numerous honours, decorations and appointments, including: * CBE:

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(2006) ** MBE (1997) * Dso-ribbon

DSO: Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (2002) **

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

** Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Ed 1962 births Living people E People educated at Eton College Alumni of the University of Exeter British Army brigadiers Royal Green Jackets officers Special Air Service officers British military personnel of the Sierra Leone Civil War British military personnel of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Military personnel of the Bosnian War Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service 20th-century British Army personnel 21st-century British Army personnel

Early life

Military career

Personal life

Honours and arms

See also

References