Hugh Beard

Rear-Admiral Hugh Beard (born 28 December 1967) is a Royal Navy officer. He currently serves as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Capability & Force Design).

He graduated with an MA in Defence Studies from King's College London in 2003.

Naval career
Beard joined the Royal Navy in 1987. He became commanding office of the submarine HMS Trenchant in 2005, submarine scheduler at Navy Command in 2008 and Commander Submarine Sea Training in 2010. He went on to be commanding officer of the frigate HMS Westminster in 2012 and Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Capability) in November 2018. Beard has been appointed Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Capability & Force Design), to start in January 2020.