Career
Coward was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1974 but transferred to the Army Air Corps in 1983. In 1995 he was deployed to the Bosnia and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his service there. He provided daily briefings on television from Sarajevo during the conflict.
He was appointed Director of Equipment Capability at the Ministry of Defence in 2003 and then moved on to be General Officer Commanding Joint Helicopter Command in 2005.
He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2008 Queen"s Birthday Honours. In September 2009 he was made Director of Materiel (Land) and Quartermaster-General to the Forces.
He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2012 Birthday Honours. He is also a patron of the armed forces career management charity, Soldier On!.