Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff

The Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) is a senior British military officer. There are a number of ACDS appointments and they are held by officers of two-star rank (rear admiral, air vice-marshal, or major general). They work in the Ministry of Defence.

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Health)

The ACDS(H) reports to the Surgeon General.

• Surgeon Rear Admiral Lionel Jarvis (2008–2011)
• Major General Jeremy Rowan (2011–2014)
• Surgeon Rear Admiral Alasdair Walker (2014–2015)
• Major General Martin Bricknell (2015–2018)

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Capability & Force Design)

• Air Vice-Marshal Graeme A. Robertson (1994–1996)
• Rear-Admiral Nigel R. Essenhigh (1996–1998)
• Major-General John P. Kiszely (1998–2001)
• Rear-Admiral Rory A.I. McLean (2001–2004)
• Rear-Admiral Timothy J.H. Laurence (2004–2007)
• Air Vice-Marshal Kevin J. Leeson (2007–2009)
• Rear-Admiral Alan D. Richards (2009–2011)
• Major-General Mark Poffley (2011–2014)
• Rear Admiral Tim Fraser (2014–2017)
• Air Vice-Marshal Richard Knighton (2017–2018)
• Major-General Robert Magowan (2018–2020)
• Rear Admiral Hugh Beard (2020–2022)
• Major-General David Eastman (2022–2024)^[1]
• Air Vice-Marshal Tim Jones (2024–present)

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Military Strategy) later, Defence Engagement

• Major-General Alexander J.S. Storrie (2011–2013)
• Rear-Admiral Simon J. Ancona (2013–2017)
• Major-General Giles P. Hill (2017–2019)
• Major-General Stephen McMahon (2019–2020)
• Air Vice-Marshal Alastair P.T. Smith (2020–2022)^[2]
• Major General Julian Buczacki (2022-present) (retiring in 2025)

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Intelligence Capability)

The ACDS(IC) reports to the Chief of Defence Intelligence.

• Major General Jerry Thomas (2009–2012)^[3]

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Commitments)/(Operations, now Operations & Commitments)

• Rear Admiral David Brown (1980–1982)
• Air Vice-Marshal Clive Loader (2002–2004)
• Major General Nick Houghton (2004–2005)
• Major General Chris Nickols (2005–2008)
• Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Pulford (2008–2010)
• Major General David Capewell (2010–2011)
• Air Vice-Marshal Bob Judson (2011–2013)
• Major General Patrick Sanders (2013–2015)
• Air Vice-Marshal Edward Stringer (2015–2017)
• Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Turner (2017–2019)
• Major General Charles Stickland (2019–2021)^[4]
• Air Vice-Marshal Allan Marshall (2021–2024)^[5]
• Rear Admiral Steve Moorhouse (2024-present)

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Personnel Capability)

Since 1992, the Defence Services Secretary has usually holds the appointment of ACDS(P) as a secondary role.

• Major General Brian Pennicott (1992–1994)
• Air Vice-Marshal Peter John Harding (1994–1998)
• Rear Admiral Rodney Lees (1998–2001)
• Major General Christopher Elliot (2001–2004)
• Air Vice-Marshal David Pocock (2004–2005)
• Rear Admiral Peter Wilkinson (2005–2007)
• Major General Matthew Sykes (2009–2010)
• Air Vice-Marshal David Murray (2010–2012)
• Rear Admiral Simon Williams (2012–2015)
• Major General Richard Nugee (2015–2016)
• Air Vice-Marshal Garry Tunnicliffe (2016–2019)
• Rear-Admiral James Macleod (2019–2022)
• Rear-Admiral Philip Hally (2022–2023)
• Major General Eldon Millar (2023–2024)
• Major General Lisa Keetley (2024–present)

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Policy)

• Air Vice-Marshal John Gingell (1975–1978)
• Rear Admiral Jock Slater (1985–1987)
• Air Vice-Marshal Eric Macey (1987–1989)
• Air Vice-Marshal John Willis (1989–1990)
• Rear Admiral Jonathan Tod (1990–1994)
• Air Vice-Marshal David Henderson (1994–1995)
• Air Vice-Marshal Joe French (1995–1997)
• Major General Christopher Drewry (1997–2000)
• Major General John Reith (2000–2001)
• Air Vice-Marshal David Hobart (2001–2004)^[6]
• Major General Andrew Stewart (2004–2006)
• Rear Admiral Alan Richards (2006–2009)
• Major General Jonathan Shaw (2009–2012)

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves and Cadets)

The ACDS(R&C) is the senior reservist of the British Armed Forces. They are responsible for tri-service policy relating to the reserves and cadet forces. The appointment was created in 2004.

• Major General Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster (2004–2007)^[7]
• Major General Simon Lalor (2007–2010)^[8]
• Major General Greg Smith (2010–2013)^[9]
• Major General John Crackett (2013–2016)^[10]
• Major General Ranald Munro (2016–2019)
• Major General Simon Brooks-Ward (2019–2022)^[11]
• Major General Marc Overton (2022–present)^[12]

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Nuclear, Chemical, Biological)

• Rear Admiral John Gower (2011-2014)^[13][14]

References

1. "Defence Committee: Oral evidence: The US, UK and NATO, HC 184". House of Commons. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
2. "No. 63170". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 November 2020. p. 19047.
3. "Major General (Retd) Jerry Thomas". Strategy and Security Institute. University of Exeter. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
4. "Ministry of Defence and Tri-Service Appointments" (PDF). Strategy and Security Institute. www.gulabin.com. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
5. "Senior Appointments: 2021". Royal Air Force. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
6. Hobart, David Anthony. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2018. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U44422. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 22 March 2019. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
7. "Duke of Westminster and the Royal Armoured Corps". Royal Armoured Corps News. 20 September 2011. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
8. "No. 58264". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 March 2007. p. 3233.
9. "No. 59378". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 March 2010. p. 5527.
10. "No. 60463". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 April 2013. p. 6324.
11. "Army Reserve Regional RD Staff Appointments 2019". army.mod.uk. British Army. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019. ACDS (Reserves & Cadets) Maj Gen Simon Brooks-Ward is looking to appoint a suitably qualified officer as his ADC.
12. "No. 63734". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 June 2022. p. 11655.
13. "John Gower (1960-2024)". European Leadership Network.
14. "Release of information" (PDF). Ministry of Defense Navy Command Headquarters. October 13, 2014.

External links

• Mackie, Colin (November 2015). "Ministry of Defence and Tri-Service Senior Appointments" (PDF). gulabin.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.