Colonel B W O Russell, MBE

Colonel Russell was appointed Representative Colonel of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland in May 2009.  He lives in the Scottish Borders and his interests include art, piping, sailing and most country sports.

Colonel Bruce Russell joined the 1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in May 1983 in Cyprus.  He commanded Rifle, Machine Gun, Mortar and Anti-Tank Platoons during service with the 1st Battalion in Edinburgh, Colchester, Canada, the Falkland Islands and Fermanagh.  He was senior subaltern on Her Majesty The Queen’s Royal Guard at Balmoral in 1985.  Following an appointment as an Instructor on the Mozambique Training Team in Zimbabwe in 1988, he was Adjutant of the 1st Battalion in Colchester and Minden for 2 years, and after briefly serving as a Company Commander in Belfast, was then the Media Escort Officer for HQ 1st (UK) Armoured Division in the Gulf War in 1990/1991.  After a short tour in HQ Infantry during "Options for Change" he attended the Royal Military College of Science and the Army Staff College before returning to the 1st Battalion as a Company Commander in Folkestone, Belfast and Edinburgh.  He commanded Her Majesty The Queen’s Royal Guard at Balmoral in 1995.  Following a staff appointment as Military Assistant to the Military Secretary, he was Second in Command of the 1st Battalion The Black Watch in Fort George for 18 months before commanding the 1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Edinburgh and Holywood outside Belfast for 2½ years.

Operational staff appointments since then have included:  Military Assistant to the NATO Chief of Staff in Kosovo, SO1 Policy at Stormont, Northern Ireland, British Chief of Staff in Baghdad and Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence and Operations and then Chief of Staff in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.  He has also served in the Directorate of Policy and Planning in the MOD and is currently the Colonel in charge of Soldier Manning and Career Management in the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow.