Lt Gen. Sir Andrew Ridgway (left) fulfilling duties as Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, alongside Sir Philip Bailhache, Bailiff of Jersey (right), at Liberation Day celebrations, 9 May 2008
In 1970, Ridgway was commissioned into the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, serving in Germany and Ireland as a Troop Leader. In 1975, he qualified as a helicopter pilot, and was given command of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment Air Squadron, operating in Central America and Northern Ireland. In 1982, he attended the Army Staff College at Camberley, before taking command of the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment in 1991[2] and the 7th Armoured Brigade (the 'Desert Rats') in 1993. In 1994, he was appointed UN Commander in Central Bosnia and Herzegovina,[3] and became Chief of Staff for the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps for NATO's entry into the Kosovo War in 1999.[3] For 2003 to 2006, he was Chief of Defence Intelligence,[4] although he was not directly involved in producing the controversial intelligence reports that led to 2003 invasion of Iraq and Operation Telic. He is also Colonel of the Royal Tank Regiment (appointed in 1999), Honorary Colonel of Cambridge University Officer Training Corps and the Westminster Dragoons.[5]
Other jobs in Ridgway's career have included running the Army budget as Colonel Army Programmes and posts as First Director of Operational Capability, First Director of Training and Education and Chief of Joint Force Operations.[1]
