WATERLOO DINNER – COLONEL TIM COLLINS OBE
Friday 14th June at 19.00 | £90.00 pp | Pall Mall Room
As has been tradition in the past, we will be commemorating the famous Battle of Waterloo by hosting a dinner in the Pall Mall Room. This year, we will welcome Colonel Tim Collins as our Guest of Honour and Speaker. Members of the Rag are invited to join us for a welcome drinks reception in The Drawing Room followed by a three-course dinner and some not to be missed forward looking words from Colonel Collins on the defence of the realm today.
Born in Belfast, Tim Collins was educated in The Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Queen’s University Belfast where he read Economics. He was commissioned into the Army in 1981, and joined the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rangers in Berlin.
His illustrious military career included operational tours in Northern Ireland, the Falklands Islands, and Cyprus, where he served as an aide to the UN Chief of Staff. Joining 22 SAS in 1988, Collins participated in various theatres, including the Gulf War.
Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel at 38, Tim Collins was assigned to HQ Special Forces in December 1998. There, he oversaw global UK Special Forces Operations, including the detention of war crimes suspects in the former Yugoslavia. In a joint UK/US venture at Patch Barracks Stuttgart, Collins initiated the UK’s Offensive Information Operations (OIO) Programme, first implemented during the invasion of Kosovo in 1999.
Taking command of 1 R IRISH in January 2001, Collins led operations in East Tyrone and Iraq during the Liberation of Iraq. His exceptional leadership earned him the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service and an OBE in 2003. After his promotion to Colonel, Collins directed a Peace Support Training Centre in Sarajevo, and oversaw training at HQ Land Command before retiring in 2004.
Tim Collins’ memoir “Rules of Engagement,” was a UK bestseller for 16 weeks. He has written and presented several documentaries and short films for both television and radio. His work has been featured on the BBC, Sky, The History Channel and Channel 4. As an analyst, Collins has travelled and reported extensively across the Middle East and South Asia and is a regular contributor for several UK newspapers.
In 2019, Collins founded Horus Global, a capacity-building company delivering training and mentoring across multiple theatres, with a focus on the US Government, valued at over $800 million. He also co-owns companies like Horus International and McKenzie Intelligence, solidifying his legacy beyond his military service.