Nick Houghton

Sir Nick Houghton
Sir Nicholas Houghton
Born	1954 Otley, West Yorkshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1974 –
Rank	General
Service number	497441
Unit	Ministry of Defence
Commands held	PJHQ 1st Bn The Green Howards 39 Infantry Brigade
Battles/wars	Northern Ireland Iraq
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Aide-de-Camp General

General Sir John Nicholas Reynolds Houghton, GCB, CBE, ADC Gen. (born 1954) is a senior officer in the British Army, currently serving as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, the deputy to the Chief of the Defence Staff, the head of Britain's Armed Forces; based at the Ministry of Defence, London.

Early life

Born in Otley, near Leeds and educated at Woodhouse Grove School in Bradford. He graduated from St Peter's College, University of Oxford after doing an in-Service Bachelor's degree in Modern History.^[1]

Military career

After attending RMA Sandhurst, Houghton was commissioned into the Green Howards in 1974. 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. Later he became Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion The Green Howards and was deployed to Northern Ireland.^[1]

In 1994 he was made Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff at HQ Land Command and in 1997 he attended the Higher Command and Staff Course. He became Commander of 39 Infantry Brigade in Northern Ireland in 1997 and Director of Military Operations at the Ministry of Defence in 1999. He was made Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in 2002 and Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations) in 2004.^[1]

He was appointed Senior British Military Representative Iraq and Deputy Commanding General of the Multi-National Force-Iraq in 2005.^[1] He was appointed to the honorary position of Colonel of the Regiment of The Yorkshire Regiment on 6 June 2006^[2] and was superceeded by Major General Graham Binns in 2011. He became Chief of Joint Operations at Permanent Joint Headquarters (UK) in 2006.^[1] He was relieved of this post on 13 March 2009 in preparation for his promotion to General on appointment as Vice Chief of the Defence Staff in May 2009.^[3]

Awards

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.^[4][5]

_

	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)
	Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
	UNFICYP medal
	General Service Medal (1962)
	Iraq Medal
	Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
	Accumulated Campaign Service Medal
	Officer of the Legion of Merit	(United States)

Personal life

He is married to Maggie and they have two children together, Tom and Sophie. His interests include golf, sailing, shooting, cooking and history.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Biography at mod.com as Commander of Joint Operations". http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/WhatWeDo/DoctrineOperationsandDiplomacy/PJHQ/PjhqCommanderOfJointOperations.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-07. 
2. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58191. p. 17824. 27 December 2006. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
3. ^ "Official Announcemnt of new appointment of Vice Chief of the Defence Staff". http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/archive.cfm?storyid=59DA647E-1143-EC82-2EA9AF3B42A6DD2E. 
4. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59808. p. 2. 11 June 2011.
5. ^ Queen's Birthday Honours List 2011

• NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps - Chief of Staff

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman	Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff 2009 – Present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Sir Glenn Torpy	Chief of Joint Operations 2006–2009	Succeeded by Sir Stuart Peach
New title Regiment formed	Colonel of the Yorkshire Regiment 2006 – Present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Houghton, Nick
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1954
Place of birth	Otley, West Yorkshire
Date of death
Place of death