caption serviceyears servicenumber branch commands birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date rank image article_title name
general sir nicholas houghton 1974 -- 497441 united kingdom chief staff chief of joint operations 39th infantry brigade 1st battalion of , the green howards the defence staff vice-chief of the defence otley , west yorkshire united kingdom knight commander of the order of the british empire officer of grand the legion of merit -lrb- united states -rrb- knight grand cross commander of the order of military service -lrb- malaysia -rrb- of the order of the bath the troubles iraq war 18 october 1954 general chief houghton gcb , cbe , adc gen. mod 45155682.jpg of the defence staff , general sir nicholas nick houghton
 sir nick houghton
nick houghton

general sir john nicholas reynolds houghton -lrb- born 18 october 1954 -rrb- 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 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 served as vice-chief of the defence staff until assuming his current position .
