Nick Houghton

General Sir John Nicholas Reynolds Nick Houghton GCB, CBE, ADC Gen is the Chief of the Defence Staff of the British Armed Forces. He was appointed in 2013, following the retirement of former Chief of Defence Staff Sir David Richards. He served as Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion, the Green Howards in Northern Ireland during The Troubles and later became Commander ofInfantry Brigade in Northern Ireland. He was deployed as Senior British Military Representative and Deputy Commanding General, MultiNational Force Iraq during the Iraq War. Later, he became Chief of Joint Operations at Permanent Joint Headquarters and served as ViceChief of the Defence Staff until assuming his current position. In January 2016, the government announced that Houghton would be replaced by Sir Stuart Peach as Chief of the Defence Staff in the Summer of 2016.

Houghton was born onOctober 1954 in Otley near Leeds and is the son of Frank and Margaret Houghton. He was educated at Woodhouse Grove School, an independent school near Bradford. In 1977, he graduated from St Peters College, Oxford, having taken an inService Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern History.

Source: Wikipedia