James Bucknall

Lieutenant General Sir James Jeffrey Corfield Bucknall, (born 29 November 1958) is a retired British Army officer and former Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

Early life Bucknall was born in 1958 In September 1977, he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. His first promotion was to lieutenant in April 1980. He transferred from a short service commission to a regular commission in 1983, retaining seniority in his rank, before promotion to captain in October 1984.

After attending the Staff College, Camberley, He took up a company command, after which he served in a staff post at HQ Northern Ireland, He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1995, prior to assuming command of 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards in Germany. In 1998, he was appointed chief of staff of 1st Armoured Division, and deployed to Bosnia to join the division. after completing the Higher Command and Staff Course, Bucknall returned to Northern Ireland in 2003, taking command of 39th Infantry Brigade, with responsibility for Belfast and the surrounding area during The Troubles. and initially deployed to Afghanistan to join, becoming chief of staff to ISAF IX, led by the ARRC. He was appointed Deputy Commander of the International Security Assistance Force—second in command of 130,000 troops from 48 countries —and United Kingdom National Contingent Commander, Kabul—overall commander of all British forces in Afghanistan—succeeding General Sir Nick Parker. While in Afghanistan, Bucknall emphasised that a continued effort was required to maintain the momentum in improving the security situation in the country, saying "progress is not irreversible, we are yet to make it so. But we are certainly on the right track". In February 2011 he became Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

Bucknall retired from the British Army on 23 November 2013.

Personal life Bucknall lists his interests as history, field sports, cricket and association football, supporting Newcastle United F.C.

Honours and decorations In 2009, Bucknall was awarded the Legion of Merit in the degree of Officer by the United States "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations". He was granted unrestricted permission to wear the decoration on his uniform. He was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Afghanistan during the period 1 April 2011 to 30 September 2011".

Bucknall was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Northern Ireland in the period 1 April to 30 September 1994". He was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Northern Ireland in the period 1 April to 30 September 2003". He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2013 New Year Honours.

Bucknall was appointed Colonel of the Coldstream Guards in October 2009, in succession to Sir Michael Rose.