Commandant Honoured by HRH Prince Charles

09 Jan

The Commandant of Humberside and South Yorkshire Army Cadet Force, and Editor of the Cadet Review, Colonel David Fuller, was presented with his OBE by HRH Prince Charles, in a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace on 14^th December 2011.

Announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List on 11 June 2011, the award comes after over 44 years of service to the Army Cadet Force, while also working full time in his civilian life as Regional Principal Marine Surveyor, for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

David enlisted as an Army Cadet in 1967, and joined the ACF as an Instructor in September 1972, and was the last officer commissioned into the East Riding ACF in March 1974, before amalgamation into Humberside ACF.

After commissioning he served in many detachments within the East Riding before commanding both A and B Company of the force, the latter while studying for a part time degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, where he gained First Class Honours. 

In 1995 he was tasked as the Public Relations Officer, an appointment which he enjoyed immensely, developing and expanding the image of the ACF greatly and ensuring that the ACF was kept very firmly in the public eye, with the result that the county was awarded the National Wilkinson Sword of PR Excellence for two consecutive years in 1999 and 2000.

During 2003 he developed and gained approval for the idea of producing a Tri-Service Cadet magazine, the Cadet Review, for the three services across Yorkshire and the Humber. Supported by the Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association (RFCA). This commenced production soon afterwards and has been a great success in showing the achievements of the cadets in the region.

David assumed command of Humberside and South Yorkshire ACF, the largest ACF county in the country, with some 1700 cadets and 350 Officers and Instructors, on 1st January 2007 and was promoted to Colonel, in a role he continues to thoroughly enjoy.

Additionally he has been jointly responsible for the organisation, planning and execution of two successful tri-service expeditions to the Himalaya and is presently organising a third to be run in 2012.

He is also a qualified Watermanship Safety Officer and has run safe training on water based activities for over thirty years.  That is little change from his day job, as the Regional Principal Marine Surveyor, for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, where he is responsible for the survey and inspection of some 2000 fishing vessels covering a patch between the Scottish border and the Devon/Dorset border on the east and south coast of the UK, together with some 30 large fishing vessels which operate in the Falkland Islands.

He is married to Alex and has two children, Sarah, who is 29 and a Hotel Reservations Manager, and Iain, who is 27 and a regular soldier serving with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, and lives near Beverley in East Yorkshire.

In addition to the visit to Buckingham Palace, David and his family also visited the House of Lords, by invitation of the Honorary Colonel, Colonel the Lord Lingfield; where a guided tour of the Lords was given, afternoon tea was taken in the restaurant and a visit to the Chamber where proceedings were watched including a vote on the debate which was being discussed at the time. All of this rounded off an absolutely splendid day and one which will be remembered for a long time to come.