Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)
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 held the highest ranks in the British armed forces (equivalent to a US "five-star" rank) being an
Admiral of the Fleet, a
Field Marshal or
Marshal of the Royal Air Force, depending on the service he was from. However, with the defence cuts, having a such a high rank serving 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 held a lower ("four-star") rank as (
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 from 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.
*
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir William Dickson (
1 January 1956-
12 July 1959)
*
Admiral of the Fleet The Earl Mountbatten of Burma (
13 July 1959-
15 July 1965)
*
Field Marshal Sir Richard Hull (
16 July 1965-
4 August 1967)
*
Marshal of the Royal Air Force The Lord Elworthy (
7 August 1967-
8 April 1971)
*
Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Hill-Norton (
9 April 1971-
21 October 1973)
*
Field Marshal The Lord Carver (
22 October 1973-
23 October 1976)
*
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Andrew Humphrey (
24 October 1976-
24 January 1977)
*
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Ashmore (
9 February 1977-
30 August 1977)
*
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Neil Cameron (
31 August 1977-31 August
1979)
*
Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Lewin (
1 September 1979-
30 September 1982)
*
Field Marshal The Lord Bramall (
1 October 1982-
31 October 1985)
*
Admiral of the Fleet The Lord Fieldhouse (
1 November 1985-
9 December 1988)
*
Marshal of the Royal Air Force The Lord Craig (9 December 1988-
1 April 1991)
*
Field Marshal The Lord Vincent (
2 April 1991-
31 December 1992)
*
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Harding (
1 January 1993-
13 March 1994)
*
Field Marshal The Lord Inge (
14 March 1994-
1 April 1997)
*
General Sir Charles Guthrie (
2 April 1997-
15 February 2001)
*
Admiral The Lord Boyce (
16 February 2001-
2 May 2003)
*
General Sir Michael Walker (
4 May 2003-
28 April 2006)
*
Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup (
28 April 2006 - )
*
First Sea Lord / Chief of the Naval Staff*
Chief of the General Staff*
Chief of the Air Staff
