David Richards (British Army officer)

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Sir David Richards
1952-
General Sir David Richards Photo: Crown copyright
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1971–
Rank	General
Commands held	3rd Royal Horse Artillery 4th Armoured Brigade Allied Rapid Reaction Corps International Security Assistance Force
Battles/wars	Sierra Leone Afghanistan
Awards	KCB, CBE, DSO

General Sir David Julian Richards, KCB, CBE, DSO, (born 1952) is a British military commander, and was the overall commander of international forces in southern Afghanistan from July 2006 until February 4th, 2007, when he was replaced by US General Dan McNeill. He is now Commander-in-Chief, Land Command.

1 Early life
2 Army career
3 Courses and awards
4 Family
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life

Richards attended Eastbourne College and was commissioned into the Royal Artillery as a Second Lieutenant in 1971.^[1] He then attended University College, Cardiff, graduating in 1974 with a degree in politics and economics.

[edit] Army career

He served with the Royal Artillery in the Far East, Germany and the United Kingdom, including three tours in Northern Ireland, and served on the staff of the 11th Armoured Brigade in Germany. He was promoted Captain in 1977.^[2] He attended the Staff College, Camberley in 1984. He returned to 11th Armoured Brigade to command a field battery in 47th Field Regiment. He then served as the Chief of Staff of the Berlin Infantry Brigade for two years, before being promoted Lieutenant-Colonel on 30 June 1989.^[3] He served as an instructor at the Staff College for three years, and was then given command of the 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery.

In 1994 he joined the Ministry of Defence as Colonel Army Plans.^[4] In December 1995, after completing the Higher Command and Staff course, he was promoted Brigadier^[5] and then became Commander of the 4th Armoured Brigade in Germany. He became Chief of Joint Force Operations at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in 1998. In this role, as the default commander for short notice expeditionary operations, he commanded the UK Contingent in East Timor in 1999 and twice commanded a UK Joint Task Force in Sierra Leone in 2000.

In April 2001 he became Chief of Staff of NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, with the rank of Major General.^[6] In 2002, he became Assistant Chief of the General Staff,^[7] and on 19 January 2005 became the Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, which carried promotion to Lieutenant General.^[8]

In July 2006, command of the international forces (the International Security Assistance Force) in southern Afghanistan was passed to NATO forces under his command and he was promoted to the acting rank of full General (4-star). On returning from Afghanistan, he reverted back to his previous rank of Lieutenant-General. On 1 February 2008 he was promoted to substantive General and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Land Command in succession to General Sir Redmond Watt.^[9]^[10]

[edit] Courses and awards

Richards has attended the US Brigade Commanders, Combined Joint Force Land Component Commanders, and Joint Task Force Commanders (Pinnacle) Courses. His operational awards include a Mention in Despatches for services in Northern Ireland,^[11] Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services in East Timor,^[12] and the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for services in Sierra Leone (Operation Barras).^[13] He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the July 2007 operational and gallantry awards list for his services in Afghanistan.^[14]^[15] In addition to his orders, he has also been awarded campaign medals for Northern Ireland, East Timor (UN) and Operational Service Medals for Sierra Leone and Afghanistan. He also wears the Golden Jubilee Medal from 2002. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal Rifle Volunteers on 1 September 2003,^[16] Colonel Commandant of the Royal artillery on 19 January 2005,^[17] and on 1 April 2007 he was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gurkhas.^[18]

[edit] Family

Richards lives near Salisbury. He and his wife Caroline have two daughters, Joanna and Pippa, both university undergraduates. He is a keen student of military history and a qualified offshore yachtsman (he is Admiral of the British Kiel Yacht Club).