Nick Houghton

General Sir John Nicholas Reynolds Houghton (born 18 October 1954) is the Chief of the Defence Staff of the British Armed Forces. He served as Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion The Green Howards in Northern Ireland during The Troubles and later became Commander of 39 Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland. He was deployed as Senior British Military Representative and Deputy Commanding General, Multi-National Force – Iraq during the Iraq War. He went on to be Chief of Joint Operations at Permanent Joint Headquarters and has just finished as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, having handed over to Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach on 10 May 2013.

Early life
Born the son of Frank and Margaret Houghton on 18 October 1954 at Otley near Leeds, Houghton was educated at Woodhouse Grove School in Bradford. He graduated from St Peter's College, University of Oxford in 1977 after doing an in-Service Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History.

Military career
After attending Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Houghton was commissioned into the Green Howards as a second lieutenant on 9 March 1974. He was promoted to lieutenant on 9 March 1976, to captain on 9 September 1980 and to major on 30 September 1986. He was appointed Military Assistant to the Chief of Staff British Army of the Rhine and subsequently became a member of the Directing Staff at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham. Promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 June 1991, he became Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion The Green Howards in 1991 and was deployed to Northern Ireland in 1993.

Houghton was made Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff at HQ Land Command in 1994 and he attended the Higher Command and Staff Course in 1997. Promoted to brigadier on 31 December 1997 with seniority from 30 June 1997, he became Commander of 39 Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland in 1997 and was Director of Military Operations at the Ministry of Defence from December 1999 to July 2002. He was promoted to major general on 26 July 2002 and was made Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps that year before becoming Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) in 2004.

Promoted to lieutenant general on 14 October 2005, Houghton was deployed as Senior British Military Representative and Deputy Commanding General, Multi-National Force – Iraq in October 2005. He became Chief of Joint Operations at Permanent Joint Headquarters (UK) in 2006 and, after being relieved of that post on 13 March 2009, he was promoted to general and appointed Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff on 5 May 2009. Houghton took over as Chief of the Defence Staff on 18 July 2013. He has stated that one of his key objectives is to re-shape the Armed forces in the post-Afghanistan era. Houghton has also raised concerns about the Armed Forces' abilities with the personnel and budget cuts.

Honours and decorations
On 12 October 1993, Houghton was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "in recognition of distinguished service in Northern Ireland". He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 14 April 2000 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Northern Ireland during the period 1 April 1999 to 30 September 1999". In 2006, he was made an Officer of the Legion of Merit "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Iraq. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2008 Birthday Honours and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 2011 Birthday Honours.

Houghton was Colonel of the Regiment of 158 (Royal Anglian) Transport Regiment (Volunteers) from 1 November 2003 to 1 September 2008 and honorary Colonel Commandant of the King's Division from 10 December 2005 to 10 December 2008 as well as Colonel of the Regiment of The Yorkshire Regiment from 6 June 2006 to 6 June 2011. He was appointed Colonel Commandant of the Intelligence Corps on 19 July 2008 and Aide-de-Camp General (ADC Gen) to The Queen on 1 October 2009.

Personal life
In 1982 Houghton married Margaret Glover: they have one son and one daughter. His interests include golf, sailing, shooting, cooking and history.