Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Wooddisse KCB CBE MC

Commander NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps

Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Wooddisse was commissioned into the Royal Anglian Regiment in 1992 after completing a degree at University College London. The early part of his career was dominated by operational tours to Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. His first staff job was as the Military Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps which included a nine month tour to Kabul with HQ ISAF. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment between 2009-2011, first in Germany and then in Cyprus.

He attended the Higher Command and Staff Course in 2012 before serving in the Ministry of Defence where he developed Military Strategic Plans for operations in Syria and Somalia. He commanded 38 (Irish) Brigade, responsible for all aspects of the Army in Northern Ireland, before running Joint military operations across the globe from the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood. He commanded the 1st (United Kingdom) Division from York, the UK’s light forces Division responsible for land operations outside Europe.

He moved to the Army Headquarters in 2018 as the Assistant Chief of the General Staff where, inter alia, he led the Army’s response to COVID 19 and the Army’s input to the 2021 Defence Review. In 2021 he was appointed Commander Field Army, a post that was dominated by the Army’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He was selected to command the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in 2024.