Tim Collins (British Army officer)

Tim Collins
Tim Collins
Born	April 1960 (age 56–57) Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1981–2004
Rank	Colonel
Commands held	1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment
Battles/wars	1st Gulf War, Colombia Drugs War, Zaire Army Rebellion 1991, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq War
Awards	Officer of the Order of the British Empire Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service

Colonel Timothy Thomas Cyril "Tim" Collins, OBE (born April 1960) is a retired Northern Irish military officer in the British Army. He is best known for his role in the Iraq War in 2003, and his inspirational eve-of-battle speech, a copy of which apparently hung in the White House's Oval Office. He is currently Chairman (and co-founder) of intelligence-based security services company New Century.

Collins was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he grew up during The Troubles. He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution before attending the Queen's University of Belfast, where he gained a degree in economics.

After graduating from university, Collins was accepted into the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned into the Royal Signals as a second lieutenant on a short service commission on 2 October 1981. He was promoted to lieutenant with seniority from 7 April 1981. He transferred to the Royal Irish Rangers on 18 October 1982. He switched to a full commission on 22 October 1984, and was promoted captain on 7 October 1985.

He was promoted major on 30 September 1992, and lieutenant-colonel on 30 June 1999. Collins was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment in 2001. For a tour of duty in Northern Ireland between October 2001 and March 2002, he was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service on 29 October 2002. It was in the capacity of 1 R Irish's commanding officer that he rose to prominence while serving in Iraq.

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