Having been promoted to full colonel on 30 June 1982, appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 1983 and promoted to brigadier on 31 December 1984, he went on to be Brigade Commander of 11 Armoured Brigade in British Army of the Rhine in 1985. After that he went to the Ministry of Defence in 1987 as Director of Army Plans. Following his appointment as General Officer Commanding 1st Armoured Division in Germany in August 1989, he was given the substantive rank of major general on 30 September 1989. He became Assistant Chief of the General Staff on 30 November 1990 and, after being appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 1993, he was made General Officer Commanding and Director of Military Operations in Northern Ireland on 25 January 1993 with his promotion to the rank of lieutenant general becoming substantive on 1 March 1993. During his tour as Director of Military Operations the first cessation of terrorist operations took place and Wheeler initiated the reduction in the British military presence in Northern Ireland by three battalions over the course of the next two years.