Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)

Not to be confused with Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom).

Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the title of 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 CDS is based at the Ministry of Defence and works alongside the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence, the ministry's senior civil servant. The CDS is the highest-ranking officer to currently serve in the armed forces.

Chief of the Defence Staff
Flag of the CDS
Incumbent Admiral Sir Tony Radakin since 30 November 2021
Ministry of Defence British Armed Forces
Abbreviation	CDS
Member of	Defence Council Chiefs of Staff Committee
Reports to	The Prime Minister 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	Official website

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

The current CDS is Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who succeeded General Sir Nick Carter in November 2021. 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]

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the CDS include:

• leading defence (with the Permanent Secretary (Perm Sec))
• setting strategy for defence, including the future development of the Armed Forces (subject to ministers’ direction, and together with Perm Sec)
• the conduct of current operations (as strategic commander)
• leading relationships with other countries’ Armed Forces^[3]

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.^[4]

There are also several Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (DCDS) posts who support the VCDS. As of 2015, these are:^[5]

• 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.

Additionally, the CDS is supported by a Strategic Advisory Panel.^[6]

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 grade 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 "Five-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, a Royal Marine officer Gordon Messenger was promoted to the rank of general and appointed as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.

Professional heads of the English/British Armed Forces

• v
• t
• e

	Royal Navy	British Army	Royal Air Force	Combined
1645	N/A	Commander-in-Chief of the Forces (1645/60–1904, intermittently)	Not established
1689	Senior Naval Lord (1689–1771)
1771	First Naval Lord (1771–1904)
1904	First Sea Lord (1904–1917)	Chief of the General Staff (1904–1909)		Inter-service co-ordination was carried out from 1904 by the Committee of Imperial Defence under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister
1909		Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1909–1964)
1917	First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1917–present)
1918			Chief of the Air Staff (1918–present)
1923				Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (1923–1959, held by one of the service heads until 1956)
1959				Chief of the Defence Staff (1959–present)
1964		Chief of the General Staff (1964–present)

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	Life peerage	Ref.
1		Dickson, WilliamMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir William Dickson GCB, KBE, DSO, AFC (1898–1987) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	1 January 1959	12 July 1959	192 days	Royal Air Force	None	[7]
2		Mountbatten, LouisAdmiral of the Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, ADC (1900–1979) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	13 July 1959	15 July 1965	6 years, 2 days	Royal Navy	Hereditary peerage, Earl Mountbatten of Burma	[8]
3		Hull, RichardField Marshal Sir Richard Hull GCB, DSO (1907–1989) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	16 July 1965	4 August 1967	2 years, 19 days	British Army	None	[9]
4		Elworthy, CharlesMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Elworthy GCB, CBE, DSO, LVO, DFC, AFC (1911–1993) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	4 August 1967	8 April 1971	3 years, 247 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Elworthy	[10][11]
5		Hill-Norton, PeterAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Hill-Norton GCB (1915–2004) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	9 April 1971	21 October 1973	2 years, 195 days	Royal Navy	Baron Hill-Norton	[12]
6		Carver, MichaelField Marshal Sir Michael Carver GCB, CBE, DSO & Bar, MC (1915–2001) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	21 October 1973	24 October 1976	3 years, 3 days	British Army	Baron Carver	[13][14]
7		Humphrey, AndrewMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Andrew Humphrey GCB, OBE, DFC, AFC & Two Bars (1921–1977) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	24 October 1976	24 January 1977 †	92 days	Royal Air Force	None	[15]
-		Ashmore, EdwardAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Ashmore GCB, DSC (1919–2016) Acting Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	9 February 1977	30 August 1977	202 days	Royal Navy	None	[16]
8		Cameron, NeilMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Neil Cameron GCB, CBE, DSO, DFC (1920–1985) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	31 August 1977	31 August 1979	2 years	Royal Air Force	Baron Cameron of Balhousie	[17][18]
9		Lewin, TerenceAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Terence Lewin GCB, LVO, DSC (1920–1999) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	1 September 1979	30 September 1982	3 years, 29 days	Royal Navy	Baron Lewin	[19]
10		Bramall, EdwinField Marshal Sir Edwin Bramall GCB, OBE, MC (1923–2019) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff[a]	1 October 1982	31 October 1985	3 years, 30 days	British Army	Baron Bramall	[20]
11		Fieldhouse, JohnAdmiral of the Fleet Sir John Fieldhouse GCB, GBE (1928–1992) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	1 November 1985	9 December 1988	3 years, 38 days	Royal Navy	Baron Fieldhouse	[21]
12		Craig, DavidMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir David Craig GCB, OBE (born 1929) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	9 December 1988	1 April 1991	2 years, 113 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Craig of Radley	[22]
13		Vincent, RichardField Marshal Sir Richard Vincent GBE, KCB, DSO (1931–2018) [a]	2 April 1991	31 December 1992	1 year, 273 days	British Army	Baron Vincent of Coleshill	[23]
14		Robin Harding, PeterMarshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Harding GCB (1933–2021) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff[a]	31 December 1992	13 March 1994	1 year, 72 days	Royal Air Force	None	[24]
15		Inge, PeterField Marshal Sir Peter Inge GCB (1935–2022) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	15 March 1994	1 April 1997	3 years, 17 days	British Army	Baron Inge	[25]
16		Guthrie, CharlesGeneral Sir Charles Guthrie GCB, LVO, OBE (born 1938) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	2 April 1997	15 February 2001	3 years, 319 days	British Army	Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank	[26]
17		Boyce, MichaelAdmiral Sir Michael Boyce GCB, OBE (1943–2022) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	16 February 2001	2 May 2003	2 years, 75 days	Royal Navy	Baron Boyce	[27]
18		Walker, MichaelGeneral Sir Michael Walker GCB, CMG, CBE (born 1944) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	2 May 2003	28 April 2006	2 years, 361 days	British Army	Baron Walker of Aldringham	[28]
19		Stirrup, JockAir Chief Marshal Sir Graham "Jock" Stirrup GCB, AFC (born 1949) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	28 April 2006	29 October 2010	4 years, 184 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Stirrup of Marylebone	[29]
20		Richards, DavidGeneral Sir David Richards GCB, CBE, DSO (born 1952) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	29 October 2010	18 July 2013	2 years, 271 days	British Army	Baron Richards of Herstmonceux	[30][31]
21		Houghton, NickGeneral Sir Nicholas Houghton GCB, CBE, ADC (born 1954) [a]	18 July 2013	14 July 2016	2 years, 362 days	British Army	Baron Houghton of Richmond	[32][33]
22		Houghton, NickAir Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach GBE, KCB, ADC, DL (born 1956) [a]	14 July 2016	11 June 2018	1 year, 332 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Peach	[34]
23		Houghton, NickGeneral Sir Nicholas Carter GCB, CBE, DSO (born 1959) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	11 June 2018	30 November 2021	3 years, 172 days	British Army	None	[35]
24		Radakin, TonyAdmiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB, ADC (born 1965) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	30 November 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 166 days	Royal Navy	Incumbent	[36]

Timeline

Peerage

Customarily, former Chiefs of Defence Staff receive a life peerage on retirement,^[b] 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 The King 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.^[30][37][38]

See also

• Head of the British Armed Forces

Notes

1. Previously served as the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.
2. Sir William Dickson, Sir Richard Hull and Sir Peter Harding never received a peerage.