Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter extended in post

The Prime Minister and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace are pleased to confirm that Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nicolas Patrick Carter GCB CBE DSO ADC Gen will be extended in his post until the end of November 2021.

Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter said:

It is a great honour to be asked to stay on as Chief of the Defence Staff. There is much to do. Last year’s substantial settlement of £24.1-billion for defence, announced by the Prime Minister in November, gives us the stability and confidence to modernise the armed forces to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities that will be laid out in the Integrated Review.

It is a great privilege to be at the heart of this and to play my part in ensuring that our soldiers, sailors, aviators, space and cyber warriors have the skills and equipment they need to win.

General Sir Nick Carter has been central to setting the vision for our future armed forces. The Prime Minister has asked General Carter to remain in post to ensure continuity and stability while the conclusions of the Integrated Review are implemented following the £24.1-billion settlement for defence announced last year. The Integrated Review will be published on 16 of March and the Defence Command Paper will be published on 22 of March. The selection of General Carter’s successor as Chief of the Defence Staff will begin in the autumn.

The Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the armed forces and the principal military adviser to the Defence Secretary and the Prime Minister. The average tenure of a Chief of the Defence Staff has been 3 years, although several have served less, and a small number have served for 4 years. The longest any Chief of the Defence Staff has served is 6 years, when Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten held the role from 1959 to 1965.

General Sir Nick Carter has been in post since June 2018, when he took over from Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach GBE KCB ADC DL. Prior to his appointment as Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter was Chief of the General staff, Head of the British Army, for four years. Joining the Army in 1977, he commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst into The Royal Green Jackets and has served in Germany, Cyprus, Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.