Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Richard Wardlaw, is a senior
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 ...
Wardlaw was first commissioned as a Second Lieutenant (on probation) in 1986, on a Short Service Limited Commission within the Royal Engineers (a scheme that commissioned prospective officers for a gap year before progressing on to university). The subsequent year, he joined the
University Officers' Training Corps
The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...
whilst studying for a
Bachelor of Engineering
A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university.
In the UK, a Ba ...
in Production Engineering at the
University of Nottingham
, mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom
, established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status
, type = Public
, chancellor ...
, commissioning once more as a Second Lieutenant (on probation) in 1988. After attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was confirmed as a Second Lieutenant in 1991, returning to the Royal Engineers. After promotion to Lieutenant in 1991, Wardlaw joined the
Queen's Gurkha Engineers
The 36 Engineer Regiment is a regiment of the Corps of Royal Engineers within the British Army. The regiment trace their history back to before World War II as 36 Army Engineer Regiment. The regiment today is a general support engineer regiment pr ...
as a troop commander, serving 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 Delta i ...
and
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...
. Being promoted to captain in 1995, and progressing onto Major and Lieutenant Colonel, Wardlaw continued to serve with the Queen's Gurkha Engineers as a Squadron Second-in-Command, Squadron Commander, and finally as the Commanding Officer of 36 Engineer Regiment and Commandant of the Queen's Gurkha Engineers. Upon promotion to Colonel in 2009 (and later Brigadier), and his transfer to the General Staff, Wardlaw served as the Assistant Director of Manning (Plans and Policy), Chief Engineer of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps and Director of Plans (Army). Promotion to Major General came in 2015, along with the roles of Chief of Staff of the ARRC and Director of Army Basing and Infrastructure; before Wardlaw was finally appointed as the Chief of Defence Logistics and Support along with promotion to Lieutenant General in 2019.
Wardlaw previously served as the Colonel of the Queen's Gurkha Engineers between 2016 and 2020, and as one of the 12 Colonel Commandants of the Royal Engineers between 2015 and 2020. He currently serves as the Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gurkhas, and the Chairman of The Gurkha Welfare Trust both since 2020; along with Chairman of the Royal Engineers Officers' Widows Society, and a Trustee of the Royal Engineer Yacht Club.
Wardlaw was appointed as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the
2012 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours List 2012 was released on 16 June 2012 in the United Kingdom. on 11 June 2012 in Australia on 4 June 2012 in New Zealand,