Our People
Lieutenant General Tyrone Urch CBE – Patron
20th March 2018
Born in Malta in 1965, Tyrone was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1984 after an education at Warminster School, Welbeck College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He spent the next 13 years at Regimental Duty in Airmobile, Amphibious, Armoured and Gurkha units supporting battle groups, brigades and divisions in Germany, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Hong Kong.
On promotion to Major he completed the Advanced Command and Staff Course, gained an MA from King’s College London, and was posted to HQ Land Command where he was responsible for drafting operational orders for Army deployments worldwide; he received the MBE and also qualified as a Chartered Civil Engineer during this period. He then commanded 20 Field Squadron for two superb years, deploying on tours to Belize and Northern Ireland. After a short stint as the Army’s lead Counter Terrorism & UK Operations Staff Officer, he assumed command of 22 Engineer Regiment, deploying to Iraq in 2004; he received the OBE on behalf of the Regiment. After command, he instructed at the Defence Academy before being posted back to HQ Land Forces as the Assistant Director Commitments. This was followed by two cracking years as Commander 1st Mechanized Brigade, where he was awarded the CBE for the Brigade’s support to operations in Afghanistan. Most recently, he was the Assistant Chief of Staff Operations at the UK Permanent Joint Headquarters, then Chief of Staff Land Forces at the Army Headquarters in the rank of Major General, and finally General Officer Commanding Force Troops Command comprising 40,000 Regular and Reserve soldiers. In June 2018, on promotion to Lieutenant General, he was appointed Commander Home Command and the Standing Joint Command (UK).
Tyrone is married and has two grown up children; his limited spare time is filled with mountaineering, dog walking, keeping fit, playing squash, and standing in ‘The Shed’ supporting Gloucester Rugby.