Lieutenant General  David Bill

Lieutenant General David Bill was born in 1954 and following education at Charterhouse and Welbeck College was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1973.  He took an in-Service BSc in Civil Engineering at RMCS Shrivenham, and thereafter his early service was spent mainly in Northern Ireland or with the Queen’s Gurkha Engineers in Hong Kong, Belize and Chatham, but also included a year in Osnabrück with 25 Engineer Regiment.

After education at the Army Staff College, Camberley in 1985, he spent 2 years in London in Military Operations covering a NATO/Warsaw Pact desk before returning to Northern Ireland to command the 300 man strong 33 Independent Field Squadron for 2 years.  A brief stint on the directing staff at Camberley was followed by command of 39 Engineer Regiment in Waterbeach, with a role requiring him to work closely with the RAF.  In 1994 he returned for 3 more years in London, this time in Army Staff Duties during the time of the change to a Labour Government and the Strategic Defence Review and also included during the period attendance on the Higher Command Staff Course. This was followed by 4 years at HQ Land Forces at Wilton.  First as Commander Engineer he was responsible for the planning and coordination of engineer operations and field training worldwide and latterly as Brigadier General Staff for the strategic and financial planning of the Headquarters and the Command.

Following attendance at the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2002, and on promotion to Major General, he assumed command as General Officer Commanding UK Support Command (Germany), based in Rheindahlen, near Düsseldorf in November 2003 for which he was awarded a CB in the 2006 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

His most recent previous appointment from September 2006 was as Deputy Commander NATO Rapid Deployable Corps (Italy), which included work up and stand by as the Land Component for NRF 12.  He assumed the appointment of UK Military Representative in October 2008.  Extra-murally, he is also Colonel, The Queen’s Gurkha Engineers and a Colonel Commandant, Royal Engineers.  He speaks passable French and German, has a smattering of Italian and retains some very rusty Nepali from his earlier service in the Far East

Lieutenant General Bill is married to Gabrielle, a professional artist, and they have 2 sons and a daughter.  Away from work, his interests include a passion for downhill skiing and watching cricket, mediocre tennis, inaccurate golf, and the occasional hand of bridge.