Atten-shun! My wife’s in charge now
A first for the Army as Lt Col hands control of regiment to spouse
With a firm handshake and a loving smile, Lieutenant Colonel Shamus Kelly yesterday passed responsibility for his unit... to his wife.
it is the first time a male officer has been succeeded as a regimental commander in the British Army by a spouse.
he handed the reins of 1 Army training Regiment to his wife of nine years, Lt Col Lyndsey Kelly, in a parade square ceremony at Pirbright Barracks in Surrey.
in keeping with centuries of military tradition Lyndsey, 42, paid full tribute to her predecessor, but insisted she would keep a ‘close eye’ on where she could improve on her husband’s efforts.
Shamus, 44, was equally complimentary – praising his wife’s more methodical and considered approach to leadership.
Both husband and wife each served in iraq and Afghanistan prior to their chance meeting on a training course in 2011.
Speaking to the Mail, they credited their success to the Army’s willingness to manage their careers as a couple rather than as individual officers as part of a Ministry of Defence move to retain personnel in longterm relationships.
Lyndsey said: ‘i’m not sure this could have happened even as recently as ten years ago. ‘thankfully that is no longer the case. A husband and wife in the Army can both do well, they don’t have to choose who it will be.’ As the incoming CO of 1 Army training Regiment (1 AtR), Lyndsey leads up to 200 permanent staff and 500 recruits undertaking the first phase of their military training. Shamus is moving to another training command role nearby.
Lyndsey added: ‘the regiment is a welloiled machine and Shamus did an outstanding job. But i will be keeping a close eye on everything so watch this space.
‘We’ve laughed about how another Lieutenant Colonel Kelly taking over could lead to confusion and cases of mistaken identity. Perhaps someone will speak ill of Shamus not knowing that i know the guy.’
the couple, who live in Andover, hampshire, have two sons – Alex, seven, and William, four. Shamus said: ‘When we come home... we make sure we don’t talk shop or bring any issues back with us.’ Despite their training roles, both officers stick with their original regiments – Shamus with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and Lyndsey with the Royal Corps of Signals.