Lt Col Alexander Rabbitt MBE

Lt Col Alex Rabbitt joined the Army in 2005 and spent his formative years commanding The Royal Welsh Reconnaissance and Anti-Tank Platoons on Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Between operational tours he commanded a Sniper Platoon, qualified as a Jungle Warfare Instructor was an instructor at Fire Support Group Division at the Support Weapons School.  He later deployed to Erbil, Kurdistan as Director of the Joint Coalition Coordination Centre where he facilitated collaboration between Kurdish Regional Government, Iraqi 3* military leadership and Coalition Forces to support the defeat of Da’esh in Mosul. He also recently deployed to Mogadishu as the Chief of Staff of UK forces in Somalia.

Alongside operational deployments, Lt Col Rabbitt’s military career has primarily been as a planner.
His latest command appointment was as a Royal Welsh Armoured Infantry Company Commander. This included commanding the military taskforce which supported the NHS with the establishment of the Nightingale Hospital, Bristol. Lt Col Rabbitt will share this experience at this year's Festival.

Furthermore, he spent over two years as Chief of Staff 160th (Welsh) Brigade where he was the principal staff officer responsible for the delivery of all ceremonial activity and UK Operations in Wales for which he was awarded an MBE.