Major Colin Richardson MBE
Senior Advisor SME (Special Activities)
Subject-matter expert and Senior Advisor to ACE, specialising in special activities for defence and security programmes.
Biography
Major Colin Richardson MBE is a retired British Army officer who served from 1997 to 2012 and again from 2018 to early 2023, with the majority of his career in 22 Special Air Service Regiment. He commanded conventional, airborne, and Special Forces units across Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq, and Afghanistan, alongside low-profile operations across Africa, Lebanon, the Far East, South America, and Eastern Europe. His command appointments include Commander of UKSF Covert Proxy Units (Iraq), founder and lead of the 22 SAS Targeting Cell, Commander of the 22 SAS Special Reconnaissance Unit, UKSF Lead on Selection and Training worldwide, UKSF Lead on Resistance Forces Development in Eastern Europe, and Counter-Terrorism Coordinator for Africa.
Raising, training, and leading partner and proxy counter-terrorism forces has been the core of his career, including the recruitment and deployment of civilian forces against terror networks across the Middle East and Africa. He was awarded the MBE in 2007 for leading counter-terrorism operations across the Middle East and Africa. At ACE, he serves as Senior Advisor SME for Special Activities.