Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Mark Charles Heath Underhill, (born c1960) is a retired

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer, and a current Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside. He also currently serves as the Chief Executive of the North West

Reserve Forces and Cadets Association Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations (RFCAs) are Crown bodies in the United Kingdom which give advice and assistance to the Defence Council, and to the Army, Royal Navy and RAF, on matters that concern reserves and cadets. They are contracted ...

Military career

Underhill commissioned from the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

on 7 April 1979, into the

Royal Corps of Transport The Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) was a British Army Corps established to manage all matters in relation to the transport of men and material for the Army and the wider Defence community. It was formed in 1965 and disbanded in 1993; its units and ...

, initially on a short service commission. He was promoted to lieutenant on 7 April 1981, and after spending time as a troop commander in the Gurkha Transport Regiment in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, he completed the Regular Careers Course and was once more promoted to captain on 7 October 1985. Upon promotion to major on 30 September 1990, Underhill returned to Hong Kong in command of a squadron, and deployed with the UN as part of the

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is a UN peacekeepers, United Nations peacekeeping force that was established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 186 in 1964 to prevent a recurrence of fighting following Cypr ...

. After transferring to the

Royal Logistic Corps The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army. History The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: * Royal Engine ...

upon its formation in April 1993, he once more returned to Hong Kong as the second-in-command of the newly raised

Hong Kong Logistic Support Regiment RLC The Hong Kong Logistic Support Regiment RLC was a British Army regiment and affiliated to the Royal Logistic Corps. It was raised on 8 April 1994 to provide logistical support in British Hong Kong prior to the handover of Hong Kong to China. The ...

. Promotion to lieutenant colonel then followed on 30 June 2000, along with the role of overseeing the formation of the tri-Service International Military Advisory and Training Team (Sierra Leone). After a posting at the Defence Transport and Movements Agency; and as Commander of Logistic Support,

London District London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''. History In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in ...

; Underhill was one more promoted to colonel on 30 June 2007, and took up overall command of the Royal Logistic Corps Territorial Army units. As a staff officer, Underhill served as the Assistant Head for Operational Energy Management of the Defence Fuels Group; Commander, Logistic Support & Infrastructure at 4th Division; and finally as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Support, at Headquarters Support Command. Underhill retired in 2013, at the rank of Colonel. Underhill has served as a Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside since 2019; the Honorary Colonel of

158 Regiment RLC 158 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, is a reserve regiment of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps. The Regiment's role is to provide logistical support to the Regular Army through its paired regular regiment, 7 Regiment RLC, as well as providing ...

since 2013; and the Honorary Life President of the

Army Rugby Union The Army Rugby Union (ARU) is the governing body for rugby union in the British Army and a constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The ARU was formed on 31 December 1906 and marked the fulfilment of Lieutenant J. E. C. "Birdie" Partr ...

since 2016. He also currently serves as the Chief Executive of the North West

. Underhill was appointed an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was further advanced to an OBE in the

Operation TELIC Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

honours list in 2003.

Personal life

Underhill is married to Debbie and they have two adult children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underhill, Mark Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Corps of Transport officers Royal Logistic Corps officers 1959 births Deputy Lieutenants of Merseyside