Department for Culture, Media and Sport
General The Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC DL
General The Lord Dannatt entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1969 and was commissioned into The Green Howards in 1971. He served seven tours of duty with the 1st Battalion in Northern Ireland and also with the UN in Cyprus and for many years in Germany before he commanded the Battalion in the airmobile role from 1989 to 1991. Amongst appointments on the Staff, as Colonel Higher Command and Staff Course/Doctrine at the Army Staff College, Camberley in 1992-93, he wrote the Army Doctrine Publication Operations a revised operational doctrine appropriate to the post-Cold War era. From 1994 to 1996 he commanded 4th Armoured Brigade again in Germany and also in Bosnia during the early days of the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.
After heading the Defence Programme Staff during the new Labour Governments Strategic Defence Review in 1997/98, he took command of 3rd (United Kingdom) Division in January 1999, and also served in Kosovo that year as Commander British Forces. In 2000 he returned to Bosnia as the Deputy Commander Operations of the NATO Stabilisation Force (SFOR). From 2001 to 2002 he was the Assistant Chief of the General Staff in the Ministry of Defence before taking command of NATOs Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC). In March 2005 he took over as Commander-in-Chief Land Command, and assumed the appointment of Chief of the General Staff in August 2006, handing over to General Sir David Richards three years later.
He was awarded the Military Cross in 1973, was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996, awarded the Queens Commendation for Valuable Service in 1999 and was appointed as a Knight Grand Cross of the most Honourable Order of the Bath in 2009. In 2010 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London and in 2011 also as a Deputy Lieutenant for Norfolk. In the same year he became a cross bench member of the House of Lords. General Dannatt has been a Senior Adviser to Control Risks, Ricardo, Typhon and Targetfollow and is currently either a Senior Adviser or Consultant to Photonis, Cadence Consulting, Imeon Logistics and Joule Africa. From 2010 to 2012 he was a contracted columnist for The Telegraph Media Group.
General Dannatt is President and a Founder Patron of the Service charity Help for Heroes, a Patron of the war-zone charity, Hope and Homes for Children and of Street Child of Sierra Leone. He is President of the Soldiers and Airmens Scripture a Readers Association. He has an Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law from the Universities of Durham and Kent, in Technology from Anglia Ruskin University and Laws from the University of Buckingham. He is an Honorary Fellow of Hatfield College, Durham, President of the Norfolk Churches Trust, YMCA Norfolk, Veterans Norfolk, and the Norfolk Branch of the Army Benevolent Fund. He is also Patron of The Royal British Legion in Norfolk and Chair of Trustees of the Jubilee Centre, Norwich. In August 2009 he became the 159th Constable of The Tower of London and a Trustee of Historic Royal Palaces. He relinquished both those appointments on 32st July 2016. General Dannatt became a Trustee of the Royal Armouries in August 2009, and Chairman in July 2015. He published his autobiography: Leading from the Front in 2010 and a second book: Boots on the Ground - Britain and her Army since 1945 will be published on 6th October 2016.
The role is not remunerated. This extension has been made in accordance with the OCPA Code of Practice. It is a requirement of the Code that political activity by those appointed is declared. Lord Dannatt has declared that he has not carried out any political activity.