Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)

The Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS) is the deputy to the Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of the British Armed Forces.^[1] It is also the second most senior position within the British Armed Forces. The position was titled Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff before 1964.^[2] From 1966 to 1978 the post was occupied by a 3 star officer. From 1978 the post has been held by a 4 star officer.

Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff
Badge of the Ministry of Defence
Incumbent General Dame Sharon Nesmith since June 2024
Ministry of Defence
Abbreviation	VCDS
Member of	Defence Council Chiefs of Staff Committee
Reports to	Chief of the Defence Staff
Nominator	Secretary of State for Defence
Appointer	Prime Minister Subject to formal approval by the King-in-Council
Precursor	Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff
Formation	February 1964
First holder	Air Chief Marshal Sir Alfred Earle
Website	Official website

Responsibilities

The Vice Chief of the Defence Staff deputises for the Chief of the Defence Staff and has responsibility for running the armed forces aspects of defence business, principally through the central staff. VCDS is responsible for:

• Deputising for CDS (in particular as Military Strategic Commander)
• Co-ordinating delivery of top-level decisions-making, implementation and monitoring progress
• Leading senior military judgement for the future development of the armed forces including the definition and delivery for military capability requirements; and being capability sponsor for capital projects and programmes
• Defence Board lead for military personnel and training (including Reserves)
• Leading the preparation of the armed forces input to SDSRs
• (with CDS) conduct of the military strategic dialogue^[3]

List of Vice Chiefs of the Defence Staff

These are:^[2]

No.	Picture	Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff	Took office	Left office	Defence branch
1		Earle, AlfredAir Chief Marshal Sir Alfred Earle GBE, CB (1907–1990)	February 1964	May 1966	Royal Air Force
2		Cole, GeorgeLieutenant General Sir George Cole KCB, CBE (1911–1973)	May 1966	November 1967	British Army
3		Hogg, IanVice Admiral Sir Ian Hogg KCB, DSC & Bar (1911–2003)	November 1967	March 1970	Royal Navy
4		Barraclough, JohnAir Marshal Sir John Barraclough KCB, CBE, DFC, AFC (1918–2008)	March 1970	February 1972	Royal Air Force
5		Gibbon, JohnLieutenant General Sir John Gibbon GCB, OBE (1917–1997)	February 1972	January 1974	British Army
6		Le Cheminant, PeterAir Marshal Sir Peter Le Cheminant KCB, DFC & Bar (1920–2018)	January 1974	January 1976	Royal Air Force
7		Leach, HenryVice Admiral Sir Henry Leach KCB (1923–2011)	January 1976	March 1977	Royal Navy
8		Morton, AnthonyVice Admiral Sir Anthony Morton KCB (1923–2006)	March 1977	April 1978	Royal Navy
9		Bramall, EdwinGeneral Sir Edwin Bramall KCB, OBE, MC (1923–2019)	April 1978	May 1979	British Army
10		Howard-Dobson, PatrickGeneral Sir Patrick Howard-Dobson GCB (1921–2009)	May 1979	June 1981	British Army
11		Evans, DavidAir Chief Marshal Sir David Evans GCB, CBE (1924–2020)	June 1981	June 1983	Royal Air Force
12		Herbert, PeterAdmiral Sir Peter Herbert KCB, OBE (1929–2019)	June 1983	January 1985	Royal Navy
13		Harding, PeterAir Chief Marshal Sir Peter Harding KCB (1933–2021)	January 1985	August 1985	Royal Air Force
14		Hine, PatrickAir Chief Marshal Sir Patrick Hine KCB (born 1932)	August 1985	October 1987	Royal Air Force
15		Vincent, RichardGeneral Sir Richard Vincent KCB, DSO (1931–2018)	October 1987	March 1991	British Army
16		Bathurst, BenjaminAdmiral Sir Benjamin Bathurst GCB (born 1936)	March 1991	January 1993	Royal Navy
17		Slater, JohnAdmiral Sir John Slater GCB, LVO (born 1938)	January 1993	April 1995	Royal Navy
18		Willis, JohnAir Chief Marshal Sir John Willis GBE, KCB (1937–2008)	April 1995	October 1997	Royal Air Force
19		Abbott, PeterAdmiral Sir Peter Abbott GBE, KCB (1942–2015)	October 1997	May 2001	Royal Navy
20		Bagnall, AnthonyAir Chief Marshal Sir Anthony Bagnall GBE, KCB (born 1945)	May 2001	July 2005	Royal Air Force
21		Granville-Chapman, TimothyGeneral Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman GBE, KCB (born 1947)	July 2005	May 2009	British Army
22		Houghton, NicholasGeneral Sir Nicholas Houghton GCB, CBE (born 1954)	May 2009	May 2013	British Army
23		Peach, StuartAir Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach GBE, KCB (born 1956)	May 2013	May 2016	Royal Air Force
24		Messenger, GordonGeneral Sir Gordon Messenger KCB, DSO & Bar, OBE (born 1962)	May 2016	May 2019	Royal Marines
25		Fraser, TimAdmiral Sir Timothy Fraser KCB	May 2019	September 2022	Royal Navy
26		Jenkins, GwynGeneral Gwyn Jenkins CB, OBE	August 2022[4]	June 2024	Royal Marines
27		Nesmith, SharonGeneral Dame Sharon Nesmith DCB, ADC	June 2024[5]		British Army

References

1. Vice Chief of Defence Staff Ministry of Defence
2. "V: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE AND TRI-SERVICE SENIOR APPOINTMENTS" (PDF). Retrieved 11 February 2012.
3. "General Gwyn Jenkins CB OBE ADC". GOV.UK. Retrieved 29 June 2023. Text was copied from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
4. "No. 63818". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 September 2022. p. 17754.
5. "General Dame Sharon Nesmith DCB ADC". Ministry of Defense. gov.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2024.