Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)
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The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the British Armed Forces. The post was created in 1956 to reflect the new conceptions of joint operations that had come to the fore in World War II. Prior to the creation of the post, one of the three members of the Chiefs of Staff Committee was appointed chairman.
From its creation up until the mid-1990s, the Chief of the Defence Staff was appointed to the highest rank in the branch of the British armed forces to which he belonged (equivalent to a US "five-star" rank) being an Admiral of the Fleet, a Field Marshal or Marshal of the Royal Air Force. However, with defence cuts, having such a high ranking officer was seen as too expensive, and too prestigious for the post-Cold War size of the British Armed Forces. Consequently, since then the Chief of the Defence Staff has not been promoted to five-star level and has retained the lower ("four-star") rank of (Admiral, General or Air Chief Marshal).
The current Chief of the Defence Staff is Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup who succeeded General Sir Michael Walker on 28 April 2006. It is traditional for the holder of the post of CDS to be from a different service to his predecessor (this has only been broken once, when General Guthrie succeeded Field Marshal Inge) and also a different service from his deputy, the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS). The current VCDS is General Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman.
[edit] Chief of Defence Staff's personal staff
The Chief of Defence Staff has a Personal Staff Officer, (currently Commodore Stephen Jermy, Royal Navy), a Deputy Personal Staff Officer (Group Captain Richard Gammage, Royal Air Force), and a Military Assistant (Lieutenant-Colonel A. S. Richmond), as well as support staff. He is also assisted by the Secretary of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, currently Colonel George Norton.
[edit] Chiefs of the Defence Staff
- Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir William Dickson GCB, KBE, DSO, AFC (1 January 1956-12 July 1959)
- Admiral of the Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO (13 July 1959-15 July 1965)
- Field Marshal Sir Richard Hull KG, GCB, DSO (16 July 1965-4 August 1967)
- Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Elworthy KG, GCB, CBE, DSO, LVO, DFC, AFC (7 August 1967-8 April 1971)
- Admiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Hill-Norton GCB (9 April 1971-21 October 1973)
- Field Marshal Sir Michael Carver GCB, CBE, DSO, MC (22 October 1973-23 October 1976)
- Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Andrew Humphrey GCB, OBE, DFC, AFC (24 October 1976-24 January 1977)
- Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Ashmore GCB, DSC (9 February 1977-30 August 1977)
- Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Neil Cameron KT, GCB, CBE, DSO, DFC (31 August 1977-31 August 1979)
- Admiral of the Fleet Sir Terence Lewin KG, GCB, LVO, DSC (1 September 1979-30 September 1982)
- Field Marshal Sir Edwin Bramall KG, GCB, OBE, MC (1 October 1982-31 October 1985)
- Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Fieldhouse GCB, GBE (1 November 1985-9 December 1988)
- Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir David Craig GCB, OBE (9 December 1988-1 April 1991)
- Field Marshal Sir Richard Vincent GBE, KCB, DSO (2 April 1991-31 December 1992)
- Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Harding GCB (1 January 1993-13 March 1994)
- Field Marshal Sir Peter Inge KG, GCB (14 March 1994-1 April 1997)
- General Sir Charles Guthrie GCB, LVO, OBE (2 April 1997-15 February 2001)
- Admiral Sir Michael Boyce GCB, OBE (16 February 2001-2 May 2003)
- General Sir Michael Walker GCB, CMG, CBE (4 May 2003- 28 April 2006)
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup GCB, AFC (28 April 2006 - )
[edit] See also
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