Brigadier Ian McGill

Ian McGill was born in Pakistan in 1946 while his father was serving with the 8th Gurkha Rifles.  The family moved to Zimbabwe shortly afterwards where he was brought up on a farm near Norton, attending boarding schools at Ruzawi and Peterhouse.  He joined the British Army in 1965 and went to Sandhurst.

Commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1967, he initially served as a troop commander in Thailand, Singapore, Germany, Northern Ireland, England, America and Cyprus with support, mechanised, and commando squadrons before joining 9 Independent Parachute Squadron as the Second in Command for 2 years in 1974.  He then worked, on attachment, for Gleesons Civil Engineering and LG Mouchel for 18 months on the M25 and M63 motorways before attending Staff College.  He commanded  9 Parachute Squadron from December 1979 to February 1982, returning to Northern Ireland for a fourth time, was Second in Command of 28 Amphibious Regiment in Germany and commanded 36 Engineer Regiment while it was part of 5 Airborne Brigade.

After the Higher Command and Staff Course his appointments included Commander British Forces Kuwait in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War, Commander Engineer at Land Command from 1992-1995, Engineer-in-Chief (Army) from 1995-1998 and Commander Initial Training Group from 1999 to 2001.  He was awarded the CBE in 1998 for his contribution to the Royal Engineers.

His staff appointments have comprised an exchange posting in Canada dealing with training; a tour as an instructor at the Army Staff College, Camberley; a year working for the Director of Military Operations initiating an assessment of operational effectiveness in the Field Army and 18 months as Colonel Tactical Doctrine within Headquarters Doctrine and Training.  For 6 months in 1998 he was Chief J3 (Operations) in the Headquarters of the NATO led Stabilisation Force in Sarajevo, where he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable service.

On leaving the Army in 2001 he joined Amey as part of a consortium with Bovis Lend Lease, before the welcome opportunity arose to join the Cadet Movement a year later.  He handed over as General Secretary of the Army Cadet Force Association and Secretary of the Combined Cadet Force Association in March 2006.

He is married with a son who is teaching and a daughter who is working in television. His home is in Salisbury, Wiltshire and his interests include hill walking, photography, sport and travel.