Brigadier Richard 'Dinger' Bell
Deputy Commanding General - Maneuver, 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss
Brig. Richard 'Dinger' Bell currently serves as the Deputy Commanding General – Maneuver of 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas.
Brig. Bell was commissioned into the Regular British Army in 2002 after prior service with The Rangers and The Royal Irish Regiment (Home Service). An Infanteer by background, he has commanded two Light Infantry Companies on Operations and an Air Assault Company within 16 Air Assault Brigade, prior to Infantry Battalion Command at the Infantry Training Centre.
On the staff he has served in Germany with 4th Armoured Brigade, 20th Armoured Brigade and finally as Chief of Staff for 7th Armoured Brigade (The Desert Rats). He has been the Military Assistant to the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe at SHAPE, the Personal Projects Officer for COMISAF and a Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for the British Army’s Home Command.
His last appointment was the Deputy Commanding General for CJTF Operation Inherent Resolve, the US led Coalition Task Force to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. He is currently the Deputy Commanding General-Manoeuvre of the Texas based 1st (US) Armored Division (Old Ironsides).
He is a graduate of both the UK Higher Command and Staff College and the US Army Staff College, additionally completing the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) earning a Masters Degree in Theatre operations.
He has deployed on Operations in the Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria with the usual training missions worldwide.
He is a Deputy Colonel for The Royal Irish Regiment and a Trustee of the Regimental Benevolent fund. Outside of the Army, he enjoys travelling with his wife, messing about in boats or climbing drumlins in his beloved Northern Ireland, and, largely unsuccessfully, trying to beat either of his two children at Fortnite.