Rear Admiral Woods joins the team in Washington from Kyiv, Ukraine where he was the British Defence Attaché – at the frontline of the UK’s support to the Ukrainian military. In Kyiv he also served as Head of the British Defence Staff in Eastern Europe, commanding all Defence Attaches across Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine at a defining moment in European security.

He brings more than three decades’ experience both on land and at sea. Previous roles have included active duty in Afghanistan, deployments to the Far East, submarine patrols, secondments to NATO, the UK Ministry of Defence and the National Security Secretariat.

Rear Admiral Woods joined the Royal Navy in 1988 after training at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, south west England, and at sea. He is a graduate of the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies, where he was awarded the Wellington Prize for Strategic Analysis.

Commenting on the appointment, His Majesty’s Ambassador to the United States of America Dame Karen Pierce said:

I am delighted to welcome Rear Admiral Tim Woods to the British Embassy. The UK’s military-to-military links with the US form part of the bedrock of the Special Relationship and have protected our citizens for decades. Tim’s extensive experience in Ukraine, NATO and with US forces will be a huge asset at this critical time, as we work with the US to support Ukraine.

The Rear Admiral said he was relishing his new role at the heart of the UK-US defence relationship:

I have worked closely with our American colleagues throughout my military career and have seen the strength of the relationship – the UK’s most important single bilateral partnership – at first hand.

I am thrilled to have moved to such an exciting and welcoming country, and am looking forward to meeting US decision makers to ensure our hand-in-glove relationship remains very focussed on the range of pressing defence and security threats. I also look forward to travelling throughout the various states over the next three years, and seeing our defence collaboration in action across America.

Rear Admiral Woods takes over the role of UK Defence Attaché at the British Embassy from Air Vice-Marshal Mick Smeath who will become Director of the Global Defence Network, the head of UK Defence Attachés worldwide.