Pringle attended the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned on 16 December 1966, as a
second lieutenant in the
Royal Green Jackets. He was promoted to
lieutenant in July 1968,
captain in December 1972, and
major in February 1979. He undertook numerous tours in
Northern Ireland, for which he was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire. Promoted to
lieutenant colonel in June 1983, he was given command of his Regiment and promoted to full
colonel in June 1988. Pringle was advanced to
Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1991. Promoted to
brigadier in July 1992, he was then given command of the
20th Armoured Brigade in 1994. In that role, he undertook a tour in
Bosnia in 1995, for which he was awarded a
Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service. In 1996 he became Director of Land Warfare at the
Ministry of Defence. this earned him a further Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service. He then became Chief of Staff at the UK's
Permanent Joint Headquarters in October 1998, in which role he was involved in the direction of British operations in Iraq, East Timor, Moxambique, Sierra Leone
Kosovo and
Macedonia during 1998 - 2001. He was appointed a
Companion of the Order of the Bath in the
2000 New Year Honours. Pringle retired in October 2001. In March 2004 he became a Non-Executive Director of Manpower Software and, in April 2008, he was appointed president of
KBR's International Government, Defence & Support Services business. ==References==