User:Betty Bunny/sandbox

Colonel Paul John Edwards, MSc, MA, PgDip, FRGS,  MILT,  MCMI,  MEI (born 2nd May 1965) is a serving Colonel in the  British Army, a mountaineer and polar explorer.

Early life and education
Paul John Edwards was born to John Frederick Edwards and Emily Mei Edwards (née Hedley). He was educated at Northfleet Grammar School and subsequently at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Cranfield University and the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

Early career
Edwards was employed in the City of London as a Foreign Exchange Trader between 1983 and 1988, where he worked for the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, Deutsche Bank and National Australia Bank.

Military career
Edwards graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the Royal Army Ordnance Corps with a full Regular Commission in April 1990. After a short period of training Edwards deployed to Northern Ireland as part of Operation Banner, and then directly to the Gulf where he took part in the clean up phase of Operation Granby. Edwards subsequently served as a Lieutenant with the Allied Command Europe Mobile Force in Norway, Turkey and Denmark before attending technical training as a Petroleum Installation officer at Westmoors.

After promoting to Captain, Edwards served in 24 Airmobile Brigade, 101 Logistic Brigade and following promotion to Major in 9 Supply Regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps. In each of the posts he completed an Operational tour of duty in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, initially with the UN in 1995, but subsequently with NATO in 1998 and 2000.

Edwards was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 2007 and he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2012. In March 2013 Edwards was promoted to Colonel and appointed Assistant Chief of Staff (Cadets) with a substantive seniority date of 30th June 2013.

Mountaineering and Exploration
Edwards has been climbing and mountaineering since the age of 11. He led a British Army expedition to Alaska in 1993 where he made the first British and second ever ascent of the Archangel Ridge, a difficult and remote route on Mount Foraker. In 1999 he lead an Army Team to climb Kwangde Ri as part of a major Army exercise in Nepal. In 2012 he led a joint British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force expedition to the Fallières Coast of Antarctica. , The expedition was named the British Services Antarctic Expedition 2012 and was part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition.

Edwards has served on the Committee of the Army Mountaineering Association since 1991 and was elected as its Chairman in 2012. In 2010 he became a member of the Alpine Club and in 2011 a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Personal life
Edwards married Elizabeth Sarah Hale in 1997; they have a son and a daughter. He is an atheist, and is interested in mountaineering, skiing, and sailing.