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Lieutenant Colonel Richard Jefferies assumed command of the 1st Battalion at Dhekelia, Cyprus, on 21 June 2004.
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Alexander Jefferies was born in Penwortham, Preston, in 1963. He graduated in economics from the University of Birmingham in 1984 and subsequently undertook officer training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He joined the 1st Battalion The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment in the spring of 1985, soon after the beginning of the Battalion’s tour of duty in Paderborn, Germany, in the mechanised role. He was to serve continuously with the Battalion until late in 1991, having commanded several rifle platoons, the Mortar Platoon, been Battalion Intelligence Officer and finally as the Adjutant during the Battalion’s tour of duty at Weeton, near Blackpool. He was Captain of the Battalion Shooting Team when it won the British Army Championship in 1988. He subsequently travelled to Canada with the team as part of the British Army Rifle Team in 1989.
From 1991 – 1993 Richard Jefferies commanded an infantry training company at the newly established Infantry Training Battalion at Strensall, near York, during the transition to centralised infantry basic training. He completed the Army Staff Course at Shrivenham in 1994 and the Army Command and Staff Course at Camberley in 1995. He was Chief of Staff, 8th Infantry Brigade in Londonderry for nearly three years, for which he was awarded the MBE. By chance, command of a rifle company with the 1st Battalion began within the same Brigade during the Battalion’s tour of duty in Omagh. He finished his company command in 2000 after the Battalion’s move to Catterick.
A very brief posting to Sennelager in Germany as Chief of Staff, Training Support Command (Germany), was cut short by promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in June 2001 and a posting to Brussels. Here, he was the Military Assistant to the Chairman of the European Union’s newly formed Military Committee working for a 4-star Finnish officer, the former Chief of Defence of Finland. He remained in this position until taking up his present post.
Lieutenant Colonel Jefferies is married to Joanna. They have 2 children, Samuel and Imogen. His hobbies include walking with his family, the outdoors, cycling and skiing. |
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