Nick Houghton

Houghton retired from the British Army in July 2016, and was succeeded as CDS by Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach.

[3][4] After attending Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Houghton was commissioned into the Green Howards as a second lieutenant on 9 March 1974.

[9] Promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 June 1991,[10] he became Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion The Green Howards in 1991[4] and was deployed to Northern Ireland in 1993.

[19] In January 2016, the government announced that Houghton would be replaced by Sir Stuart Peach as Chief of the Defence Staff in the summer of 2016.

[31] On 12 October 1993, Houghton was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "in recognition of distinguished service in Northern Ireland".

[33] In 2006, he was made an Officer of the Legion of Merit by the United States government "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq".

[43] He was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Intelligence Corps on 19 July 2008[44] and Aide-de-Camp General (ADC Gen) to The Queen on 1 October 2009.

[45] In June 2015, Houghton also received an honorary Panglima Gagah Angkatan Tentera (PGAT) award from the Deputy Minister for Defence of Malaysia.

Houghton (right) taking the salute alongside his American counterpart in 2013
Holding the Sword of State in Parliament, 2022