COL Matt Churchward
DEPUTY MISSION COMMANDER, PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP 2025
BRITISH ROYAL MARINES
Colonel Matt Churchward joined the Royal Marines in 1996. Early appointments included troop command with 45 Commando Group, specialisation as a Landing Craft Officer with Royal Marines Poole & 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines, and with Jungle Warfare Wing in Brunei where he was responsible for delivering Jungle Warfare Instructor and Tracking courses.
Operational tours have included Iraq in 2004 as Adjutant of 40 Commando Royal Marines; Afghanistan in 2006 as Chief Operations within the Regional Command South Joint Operations Cell in Kandahar; and as a sub-unit commander with 40 Commando in Helmand Province in 2012. He was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service and a Chief of Joint Operations Commendation for the respective Afghan tours.
Staff appointments have included intelligence at brigade & divisional level; Operations Officer of 1 Assault Group Royal Marines; plans & policy at Navy Command Headquarters; and as directing staff at the Defence Academy. He completed the Advanced Command and Staff Course, graduating in 2009 with a Master of Arts in Defence Studies from King’s College. He was selected as Commanding Officer of Royal Marines Reserve Merseyside in 2017.
His first appointment in the United States was with the Joint Staff J7, where he was responsible for strengthening the relationship between United Kingdom & United States Joint forces, through training, education and cooperation with strategic futures & concepts work. He returned in 2019, working in a strategy & policy role for the British Defence Staff in Washington DC, focusing on the Indo-Asia Pacific region. He was selected on promotion to Colonel in 2022 as the Royal Marines Attaché to the United States, where his primary role was to develop and reinforce the strategic defence relationship between the British Royal Marines and the United States Marine Corps.
He is currently serving as the Deputy Mission Commander for PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP 2025.