Successfully passing the Command and Staff course at the Staff College led to an appointment as company commander with 1st Battalion the Gloucestershire Regiment, at that time under consideration for merger with the Royal Hampshires. In that role, in late 1972, he was awarded the Military Cross for actions in Northern Ireland, although the detailed citation for the award is still not released to the public. He returned to the Staff College as an administrative officer, before rejoining his own regiment for service in Hong Kong. Promoted Lieutenant-colonel in 1975, a spell in the Ministry of Defence followed, as military assistant to the Quartermaster General, Bill Jackson.