Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)

Chief of the Defence Staff
Flag of the Chief of the Defence Staff
Incumbent General Sir Nicholas Carter since 11 June 2018
Ministry of Defence
Member of	Defence Council Chiefs of Staff Committee
Reports to	Secretary of State for Defence
Nominator	Secretary of State for Defence
Appointer	The Monarch[1] on advice of the Prime Minister
Formation	1 January 1959
First holder	Marshal of the RAF Sir William Dickson
Deputy	Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff
Website	www.gov.uk

The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the British Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the secretary of state for defence and the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The chief of the defence staff is based at the Ministry of Defence and works alongside the permanent under secretary, the ministry's senior civil servant. The chief of the defence staff is the British equivalent position of what in NATO and the European Union is known as the chief of defence.

Constitutionally, the sovereign is the de jure commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. However, in practice, the Government of the United Kingdom de facto exercises the royal prerogative and provides direction of the Armed Forces through the Ministry of Defence's Defence Council, of which the chief of the defence staff is a member.

The current chief of the defence staff is General Sir Nick Carter, who succeeded Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach in June 2018. Chiefs of the defence staff are appointed on the recommendation of the secretary of state for defence to the prime minister, before being approved by the monarch.^[1][2]

Supporting and associated posts[]

The CDS is supported by a deputy, the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, who since 1997 (when the CDS post was downgraded) has been of equivalent rank but is ordinarily from a different service to the CDS. There are also several Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (DCDS) posts who support the VCDS. As of 2015 these are:^[3]

• Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations) (DCDS (MSO))
• Chief of Defence People (CDP)
• Deputy Chief of Defence Staff for Military Capability (DCDS (Mil Cap))

The CDS maintains a close working relationship with the Ministry of Defence's Permanent Under Secretary, who is the Ministry's senior civil servant, and they both report directly to the Secretary of State for Defence. The CDS focuses on military operations and strategy while the Permanent Under Secretary's remit concerns administrative and financial policy.

History of the post[]

The post was created in 1959 to reflect the new concept of joint operations that had come to the fore in the Second World War. The first incumbent was Marshal of the RAF Sir William Dickson. Prior to the creation of the post, he had served as the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, from 1956 onwards. Before 1956, although no permanent post of chairman existed, the three service chiefs took it in turn to act as chairman at meetings. From the post's inception until the mid-to-late 1970s, CDS appointments were granted on a strict rotational basis between the three services. The first break in rotational order was precipitated by the death of Marshal of the RAF Sir Andrew Humphrey.

From the creation of the post until 1997, the Chief of the Defence Staff was appointed to the highest rank in the respective branch of the British armed forces to which he belonged, being an admiral of the Fleet, a field marshal or marshal of the Royal Air Force, (NATO rank code OF-10). However, with the post-Cold War reduction in the manpower strength of the British Armed Forces and the additional reasoning that no new 5-star appointments are to be made in peacetime, since 1997 the Chief of the Defence Staff has kept the rank of admiral, general or air chief marshal, (NATO OF-9), which he invariably already holds. However, during the 2010s Guthrie, Boyce, Walker and Stirrup were honorarily promoted to their respective services' senior ranks, sometime after they had each stepped down as CDS. Although there is no policy against a Royal Marines officer being appointed, few officers in the Corps attain a high enough rank to be considered for the post. However, in 2016, Gordon Messenger was promoted to the four star rank of general and appointed as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.

List of Chiefs of the Defence Staff (1959–present)[]

No.	Picture	Chief of the Defence Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Ref
1		Dickson, WilliamMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir William Dickson GCB, KBE, DSO, AFC (1898–1987)	1 January 1959	12 July 1959	192 days	Royal Air Force	[4]
2		Mountbatten, LouisAdmiral of the Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma KG, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO (1900–1979)	13 July 1959	15 July 1965	6 years, 2 days	Royal Navy	[5]
3		Hull, RichardField Marshal Sir Richard Hull GCB, DSO (1907–1989)	16 July 1965	4 August 1967	2 years, 19 days	British Army	[6]
4		Elworthy, CharlesMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Elworthy GCB, CBE, DSO, LVO, DFC, AFC (1911–1993)	4 August 1967	8 April 1971	3 years, 247 days	Royal Air Force	[7][8]
5		Hill-Norton, PeterAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Hill-Norton GCB (1915–2004)	9 April 1971	21 October 1973	2 years, 195 days	Royal Navy	[9]
6		Carver, MichaelField Marshal Sir Michael Carver GCB, CBE, DSO & Bar, MC (1915–2001)	21 October 1973	24 October 1976	3 years, 3 days	British Army	[10][11]
7		Humphrey, AndrewMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Andrew Humphrey GCB, OBE, DFC, AFC & Two Bars (1921–1977)	24 October 1976	24 January 1977 †	92 days	Royal Air Force	[12]
-		Ashmore, EdwardAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Ashmore GCB, DSC (1919–2016) Acting	9 February 1977	30 August 1977	202 days	Royal Navy	[13]
8		Cameron, NeilMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Neil Cameron GCB, CBE, DSO, DFC (1920–1985)	31 August 1977	31 August 1979	2 years, 0 days	Royal Air Force	[14][15]
9		Lewin, TerenceAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Terence Lewin GCB, LVO, DSC (1920–1999)	1 September 1979	30 September 1982	3 years, 29 days	Royal Navy	[16]
10		Bramall, EdwinField Marshal Sir Edwin Bramall GCB, OBE, MC (1923–2019)	1 October 1982	31 October 1985	3 years, 30 days	British Army	[17]
11		Fieldhouse, JohnAdmiral of the Fleet Sir John Fieldhouse GCB, GBE (1928–1992)	1 November 1985	9 December 1988	3 years, 38 days	Royal Navy	[18]
12		Craig, DavidMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir David Craig GCB, OBE (born 1929)	9 December 1988	1 April 1991	2 years, 113 days	Royal Air Force	[19]
13		Vincent, RichardField Marshal Sir Richard Vincent GBE, KCB, DSO (1931–2018)	2 April 1991	31 December 1992	1 year, 273 days	British Army	[20]
14		Robin Harding, PeterMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Harding GCB (1933–2021)	31 December 1992	13 March 1994	1 year, 72 days	Royal Air Force	[21]
15		Inge, PeterField Marshal Sir Peter Inge GCB (born 1935)	15 March 1994	1 April 1997	3 years, 17 days	British Army	[22]
16		Guthrie, CharlesGeneral Sir Charles Guthrie GCB, LVO, OBE (born 1938)	2 April 1997	15 February 2001	3 years, 319 days	British Army	[23]
17		Boyce, MichaelAdmiral Sir Michael Boyce GCB, OBE (born 1943)	16 February 2001	2 May 2003	2 years, 75 days	Royal Navy	[24]
18		Walker, MichaelGeneral Sir Michael Walker GCB, CMG, CBE (born 1944)	2 May 2003	28 April 2006	2 years, 361 days	British Army	[25]
19		Stirrup, JockAir Chief Marshal Sir Graham Stirrup GCB, AFC (born 1949)	28 April 2006	29 October 2010	4 years, 184 days	Royal Air Force	[26]
20		Richards, DavidGeneral Sir David Richards GCB, CBE, DSO (born 1952)	29 October 2010	18 July 2013	2 years, 271 days	British Army	[27][28]
21		Houghton, NickGeneral Sir Nicholas Houghton GCB, CBE, ADC (born 1954)	18 July 2013	14 July 2016	2 years, 362 days	British Army	[29][30]
22		Houghton, NickAir Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach GBE, KCB, ADC, DL (born 1956)	14 July 2016	11 June 2018	1 year, 332 days	Royal Air Force	[31]
23		Houghton, NickGeneral Sir Nicholas Carter GCB, CBE, DSO, ADC Gen (born 1959)	11 June 2018	Incumbent	3 years, 103 days	British Army	[32]

Living former Chiefs of the Defence Staff[]

Timeline[]

Peerage[]

Customarily, former Chiefs of Defence Staff receive a life peerage on retirement, sitting in the House of Lords as non-political crossbench peers. Their appointment is recommended not via the House of Lords Appointments Commission as is normal procedure, but is instead nominated directly to Her Majesty The Queen by the Prime Minister, who elects to nominate "a limited number of distinguished public servants" on retirement for a peerage. Sir Jock Stirrup was introduced to the House of Lords on 1 February 2010 as Baron Stirrup of Marylebone in the City of Westminster.^[27][33][34]

See also[]

• Head of the British Armed Forces

References[]

Sources[]

• Heathcote, Tony (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734–1995. Havertown: Pen & Sword. ISBN 0-85052-835-6.