Lieutenant Colonel Gary Allen was born in South Wales and educated in Cardiff and Glasgow, where he qualified as a journalist. He enlisted in the Army and joined the Royal Logistic Corps in 2002, deploying to Kuwait and Iraq before Regimental Duty in Germany.
He served in Heavy Equipment Transporter and Fuel Squadrons, Phase 1 training, and the Cyprus Operational Support Unit. He was Officer Commanding of 1 Squadron, 10 The Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, preparing for operations in Sierra Leone, deploying to Jordan and leading Public Duties to commemorate 200 years of Gurkha service to the Crown. Staff appointments include Public Affairs Advisor at the Ministry of Defence and the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps in Italy and Afghanistan; Middle East lead for Defence Support Chain Operations and Movements; and MA to DCOM at the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps in Spain. He was Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff CSS Plans in HQ Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, coordinating mutual training support in Romania and logistic planning in Corps Warfighting.
A graduate of the Advanced Command and Staff College, his academic background features postgraduate qualifications in Journalism, International Liaison and Communication, Defence Studies and an MBA. He is concluding an Executive Masters programme in Defence Leadership. Research interests include combat motivation, the Peninsular War, innovation, and foreign policy. He was an instructor at Spain’s Academia General Militar in the Army Language Scholarship Scheme.
His interests include travel (usually the Mediterranean), racquet sports, Welsh rugby, and offering a weekend taxi service to his children. He assumed command of the Gurkha Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Support Battalion and Innsworth Station in September 2022.
