Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Nicholas John Caplin, (born 4 December 1958) is a retired

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

officer who commanded United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) from 2009 to 2012.

Military career

Educated at

Poole Grammar School Poole Grammar School (commonly abbreviated to PGS) is a selective, all‐boys grammar school and academy in the coastal town of Poole in Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is a member of the South West Academic Trust (SWAT). The school wa ...

and the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institu ...

(BSc Economics), Caplin was commissioned into the Army Air Corps, joining 661 Squadron AAC in 1980.Biography: N J Caplin
Hawkeye, January 2010 As a junior officer he served in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

. Promoted to lieutenant colonel, Caplin became a member of the directing staff at the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

, in 1995 and commanding officer of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps at Wattisham in 1997, at which time his regiment was involved in operations in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

. He became deputy commander and chief of staff of the Joint Helicopter Force (Northern Ireland) in January 2000, Commandant of the School of Army Aviation in

Middle Wallop Middle Wallop is a village in the civil parish of Nether Wallop in Hampshire, England, on the A343 road. At the 2011 Census the population was included in the civil parish of Over Wallop. The village has a public house, The George Inn, and a ...

in 2001 and, following promotion to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

, he became deputy commander and chief of staff of the

Joint Helicopter Command Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of the British Armed Forces for command and coordination purposes. History Background Over the years, the grouping of all battlefield suppor ...

in January 2003. He went on to be commander of Collective Training Group in January 2006, Kosovo Protection Corps co-ordinator in March 2008 and General Officer Commanding United Kingdom Support Command (Germany) in August 2009.Army Commands
He became chief army instructor at the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

in October 2012. In July 2014, it was announced that Caplin had been appointed chief executive of

Blind Veterans UK Blind Veterans UK, formerly St Dunstan's, is a large British charity, providing free support and services to vision-impaired ex-Armed Forces and National Service personnel. Blind Veterans UK is a registered charity in England and Scotland and op ...

, the charity for blind and vision-impaired ex-Service men and women, with effect from October 2014. He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to veterans and the vision impaired.

References

1958 births Alumni of the University of Surrey British Army Air Corps officers British Army major generals Academics of the Royal College of Defence Studies Academics of the Staff College, Camberley 20th-century British Army personnel 21st-century British Army personnel Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Living people People educated at Poole Grammar School {{British-Army-bio-stub