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December 23, 2020

Wartime SAS/ SBS Special Forces (SF) Officer to Strategic Commander: Lt General Tim Evans inspiring Leadership Interview with Jonathan Bowman-Perks

Podcast Details

Top Tip

Mission – Team – Self” Lead by example & set a high bar.

Lieutenant-General Tim Evans CB CBE DSO – Wartime Special Air Service (SAS)/ Special Boat Service (SBS): Officer to Strategic Commander

His most senior role was to serve as Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. Tim Evans epitomises inspiring Leadership – having begun after Public School as a Private soldier for 6 month he ended up as a 3 *** Lieutenant-General. He achieved a rare feat of being a Troop Commander in 22 SAS in the Iraq War, Commander of Royal Marine’s special boat squadron plus The SF Operations Officer.

Tim served with distinction behind the lines in the Gulf War, as a Strategic Brigade Commander in the Iraq war & Afghanistan war. For a man who has achieved so much & inspired so many he is remarkably humble & modest without being self-deprecating.

He passed Special Forces Selection in 1990. He served as a troop commander in 22 Special Air Service Regiment. He attended the Army Command and Staff College and was promoted to major on 30 September 1994.

Evans was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 June 2000 with seniority from that date, and posted to the newly opened Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre. He was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion the Light Infantry in July 2001, after which he became Chief of Staff at Headquarters 3rd (UK) Division which was deployed to Southern Iraq. He was promoted to colonel on 30 June 2004 with seniority from 30 June 2004, and to Brigadier on 31 December 2005 with seniority from 30 June 2005. He was then made Commander of 19th Light Brigade, which was deployed to Iraq in 2006. He became Chief of Joint Force Operations at Permanent Joint Headquarters Northwood in 2008. On 30 September 2009, he was promoted to Major General and appointed Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC). The ARRC was deployed to Afghanistan in January 2011 with Evans taking over as Chief of Staff at ISAF Joint Command.

On 20 April 2012, he was appointed Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I enjoyed seeing Tim there and met up with him again when I was invited to give a talk on Leadership.

As Commander Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) he led multiple nations with different cultures & agendas.

He never forgets his time as a Private & so leads by example epitomising “serve to lead” – especially as Commandant of world-famous Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Now CEO of the Saudi Arabian National Risk Unit. Inspiring Role Models: Father – Headmaster – General Peter De La Billiere and General Sir Richard Sheriff. Best advice – Trust your gut.

Tip – Bad news doesn’t get better with time. Deal with it early.

Top tip: “Mission – Team – Self” Lead by example & set a high bar.”

Lieutenant General Tim Evans is currently working in Saudi Arabia as an Advisor on risk and emergency management at the highest levels.

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